


Till I See You Again

by Pastaaddict



Series: Heartbeat [5]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Found Love, Lost Love, M/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Rediscovery, Under the name Pastaaddict, unknown reconcillation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-04 09:19:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14589858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastaaddict/pseuds/Pastaaddict
Summary: Alfred found his soulmate, Artie when he was three in JFK Airport and then lost him.  Arthur found his soulmate, Alfie when he was four in JFK Airport and then lost him.  The chances of them finding each other again are a million to one.But there's always a chance!





	1. Fly My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer : I do not own Hetalia.

 

**_**Chapter 1 : Fly My Heart** _ **

__Twenty Years Earlier ….._ _

JFK International Airport was busy as the Williams-Joneses got off their plane after their vacation at Disneyland, a perfect place for Alfred Sr and Madeline Williams-Jones to take their four-year-old son, Matthew, who had the blonde hair and violet eyes of his mother, and three-year-old son, Alfred, who resembled his father with his sky blue eyes and also had blonde hair with a cowlick, sticking up at the front that seemed to say, 'make me stay down, I dare you!'. Alfred had been particularly excited about the holiday and he carried his new Mickey Mouse plush with him as they made their way to the luggage carousel and waited for the suitcases to arrive.

"Stay here, boys," Madeline told her sons. "Don't wander off!" Matthew did as he was told but Alfred soon grew bored as the suitcases began to appear but none seem to be theirs so he began to look around and, in the Check-in Area, he saw a boy, not much older than him with messy blond hair, standing at the windows, watching the planes coming in and, while his parents and brother's attention was elsewhere, he wandered over.

* * *

Three, nearly four-year-old Arthur Kirkland had wandered away from his family who were waiting for the Check-in Desk to open. His older brothers, who had been told to keep a eye on him, were being horrible and his younger brother was asleep so while their parents were checking the Departure Board for their plane to London, Arthur went wandering, his brothers too wrapped up in their own amusements to notice. He wandered over to the windows and watched the planes as they landed on the runway and taxied round to fuel up and take off again. He had been watching for a few minutes when he heard a boy's voice behind him.

"Hi!" Arthur turned to see a boy carrying a Mickey Mouse plush, a little younger than him with blonde hair that had a lock that defied gravity and the bluest eyes he had ever since as the boy stared back into his own emerald-green orbs and his chest felt funny.

__Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump!_ _

The other boy looked a little surprised and rubbed his own chest as Arthur continued to stare at the boy. The boy gave him a smile.

"I'm Alfred!" he said, clearly American. "What's your name?"

"Arthur!" he replied. Alfred gave another smile at the way Arthur spoke. It was funny, like the way he had some people speak at Disneyland.

"Hi, Artie!" Alfred said. "Wanna go play?" Arthur looked back at his family. He really should stay with his family but something told him he should be with Alfred so he nodded. Alfred smiled and they went off to play.

* * *

The family's luggage finally travelled round the carousel and Alfred Sr picked them up, putting them on the luggage trolley. Madeline took Matthew's hand and went to take Alfred's only to find he was not there.

"Alfred!" she called out, looking round. "ALFRED!" Alfred Sr looked around as well but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Wait here with the luggage!" he said. "He can't have gone far!" And he went on the search.

* * *

Check-in finally opened and Scott and Elizabeth Kirkland began to gather their brood together and that was when they realised that they were one short.

"Allistor," Scott asked his thirteen year old eldest son in a Scottish accent. "Where's Arthur?" Allistor who had shocking red hair, as did all the Kirkland brothers who took after their father, with the exception of Arthur who had his mother's hair and all had bright green eyes and huge eyebrows, looked around. His brothers, Rhys and Patrick looked as well.

"Ah, the wee shite's wandered off," Allistor groused in a Scottish accent as well. They had lived in Scotland for the first seven years of Allistor's life before moving around Britain for his father's work and he never lost the accent. "Why can't he just stay put? He's always wandering off!"

"He's barely four, Allistor," his mother scolded, carrying a sleeping, eight-month-old Seamus. "Of course, he wanders off! You were supposed to be watching him! Were you and your brothers picking on him again?"

"He's a weakling if he can't take a bit of teasing," Allistor groused.

"He's four, you're thirteen!" Elizabeth snapped. "It's bullying and you should know better!" Scott faced Allistor, ten-year-old Rhys and six-year-old Patrick.

"Find him!" he ordered, sternly. "And don't pick on him when yer do!" His gaze promised dire retribution if they disobeyed and the boys rushed off. Scott turned to his wife.

"Stay here," he said and went to look for their errant second son. They needed to find him before they could check in and they only had a couple of hours. He just hoped that Arthur had not left the airport or, worse, been taken!

* * *

Alfred and Arthur played hide and seek among the chairs, laughing happily. Alfred wanted his new green eyed, big eyebrowed friend to stay forever, felt that he should stay forever, that somehow, Artie was _his!_ But he wondered about that strange feeling in his chest, like someone was hitting a drum in there and it was not going away. He found Arthur hiding behind an artificial plant and pulled him out, giggling. They held hands and spun around in a circle, laughing.

Arthur was happy, happier than he ever was with his brothers, like he was where he was supposed to be. As if he and 'Alfie', as Alfred insisted he call him, were always meant to meet and never part again. He felt complete. And content.

"ALFRED!"

"OI! YER LITTLE SHIT!" Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin as his eldest brother ran up to him and grabbed him by his collar. "I'm in trouble because of yer and yer wandering off! Come on, we're checking in! I'm taking yer to Mum and Dad before yer land me any further in it!" Alfred Sr grabbed Alfred's hand and began to pull him away.

"You were told not to wander off, Alfred," his father scolded. "Now come on, we're going home!" As the two boys were pulled in different directions, they tried to hold on to each other's hands but they were pulled apart, trying to reach each other, even as distance was put between them, tears steaming down their faces and struggling to get back to each other, desperate not to be separated.

"ARTIE!"

"ALFIE!"

Eventually, they were pulled out of sight of each other and it would have an affect on both their lives.

* * *

Scott saw his son heading toward him with a crying, struggling Arthur and called to the other boys and his wife and they gathered together to head for the Check-in Desk but Arthur continued to weep and reach out in the direction that Allistor had dragged him from.

"Why is he crying?" Elizabeth demanded as they went to the Departure Gate. "Allistor, did you give him a hard time when you found him?"

"Nah!" Allistor denied. "He was playing with some kid and he's throwing a tantrum because I took him away from him." Elizabeth ruffled Arthur's hair.

"Never mind, Love!" she cooed. "You'll make more friends!" But Arthur continued to cry. They had to drag him on to the plane and it took off for home while Arthur cried himself to sleep.

* * *

The Williams-Joneses were on the road after they collected their car from where it was stored and Alfred had cried for an hour after being bundled into the car, fighting every inch of the way. Even now he was quiet which was unusual for him. Matthew was usually the quiet one as he was now, being asleep but Alfred was still awake, even after his crying fit. Madeline kept looking round at him as her husband drove them home and she noticed that Alfred kept rubbing his chest above the heart. After seeing this for the fifth time, Madeline turned to look at her son.

"Are you all right, Alfie?" she asked. Alfred rubbed his chest again.

"I feel funny," he said. "My chest is going bump, bump!" Madeline looked at her husband, warily.

"When did it start, sweetheart?" she asked.

"When I found Artie."

"Alfred, stop!" she said to her husband. He looked for a place and pulled over. Madeline got out of the car, opened Alfred's door and put her hand over his heart and felt the _ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump_ of his three-year-old heart. She looked at her husband in shock.

"His heart's beating!" she exclaimed. Shock filled Alfred Sr's eyes, to be replaced with determination.

"Get in!" he ordered. "We're going back! We have to find that boy!" Madeline scrambled back into the car and Alfred Sr turned it back toward the airport. When they got there, Alfred Sr bolted into the airport, looking for the little boy he had found his son with and, when he could not find him, he looked for the foul-mouthed Scottish red-head but there was no sign of him either. So he ran for the Information Desk, just as Madeline and the boys joined him, Matthew, still sleepy.

"I'm trying to find a passenger," he said to the woman behind the desk. "A little boy, three, four-years-old, green eyes, big eyebrows, we think his name's Artie. He was with a young teenager with red hair. Scottish!" The woman behind the desk looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't give out information about other passengers, I'm afraid." Alfred Sr looked desperate.

"You don't understand!" he replied. "We think the boy is my son's soulmate, we have to find him." He put his hand on Alfred's head. The woman looked down at the cute, blue-eyed three-year-old with sadness in her face.

"I'm sorry!" she apologised, again. "Even if I could give out information, that's too little to go on. You don't have a last name?" Alfred Sr looked down at Alfred.

"Did Artie tell you his last name?" Alfred shook his head. The woman sighed. This was really sad! The little boy had found his soulmate and lost him. What kind of life was he going to have?

"You can try the police," she suggested. "They might be able to track him down!" They could give the police their CCTV if they requested it and perhaps they could find the little boy's soulmate. She really hoped so. Alfred Sr looked defeated but thanked the woman anyway.

They did go to the police and they did get the CCTV but the most they could find out was the boy had gone to England and had arrived there. After that, they lost track! Alfred Sr and Madeline wondered what was going to happen to their son!

What was his life going to be like now?

* * *

On the plane bound for London, Arthur had folded up in his seat, over his legs in his sleep and Elizabeth decided that he would wake up achy and cranky if left like that so she went to straighten him up. She put her hand on his chest and brought him back upright against the chair. That was when she felt something weird in his chest.

__It couldn't be!_ _

 

The __ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump_ _ beat against her hand as her young son slept on. She put her other hand over her mouth and her eyes filled with tears as she realised just what they had done to Arthur. She stroked his hair, guilty as Arthur continued to sleep with tear-stains still on his little cheeks. Why did they not realise why Arthur was so upset! He rarely made friends and certainly not in the length of time he had with the boy that Allistor had found him with. Elizabeth went to his eldest son's seat and woke Allistor who was asleep. He woke with a start and almost swore at the disturber until he saw it was his mother.

"Why'd yer wake me up, Mum?" he moaned.

"The boy you found Arthur with," Elizabeth said, wasting no time. "What was he like?" Allistor shrugged.

"Just some little whelp!" he shrugged and settled back down but his mother was not about to let him.

"What did he look like?" she demanded. Allistor groaned.

"Who cares!" he griped.

"Allistor Caledonia Kirkland!" their mother only used their middle names when she lost patience with them so Allistor knew he was on thin ice. "You've already messed up today now answer me!"

"All right!" he replied, testily. "Blonde, blue eyes, some bloke called him Alfred! Why's it so important, any way?" Scott had noticed his wife talking to their oldest son in an agitated state and got out of his seat to see what the problem was.

"What's wrong, Liz?" he asked. Elizabeth turned stricken eyes on him.

"Arthur's heart's beating!" she replied. Scott went into shock and disbelief.

"It can't be!" he denied. "He's too young!"

"It has to be the boy Allistor found him with!" Elizabeth said. "Oh Lord, Scott! We've separated our son from his soulmate!" Scott went to Arthur's seat and put his hand over his heart and felt his son's heart beating and own beating heart almost fell silent with the shock. What had they done to their son!

When they reached London, they tried everything to find the little boy from JFK airport but they never found him and they had to deal with the aftermath.

* * *

"Do you like my picture, Artie?" Alfred asked, holding up the picture up to thin air. "It's of you!" On the paper was a child's drawing of a little boy with wheat coloured hair, bright green eyes and big eyebrows. Alfred smiled as if 'Artie' had praised his artistic skills and look at the same thin air as if he was being shown something.

"Yeah! That's great, Artie!" he said as Doctor Wolfgang Beilschmidt made a note in the file he was holding in his hands while he and Alfred's parents watched him play with his imaginary friend.

"Alfred!" he called to the now five year old. "Can you tell me what 'Artie' looks like?" Alfred smiled.

"I can show you!" he declared, standing up and walking to the councillor, putting the picture in his hand. As he went to draw more pictures with 'Artie', Wolfgang examined the picture and showed it to Alfred's parents.

"Does this look like any children you might have seen around Alfred?" he asked. Alfred Sr sighed.

"It looks like the boy from the airport," he replied. Alfred's parents had told Wolfgang about what happened at the airport and he nodded.

"I think it would be a bad idea to try to make Alfred give up 'Artie'," he advised. "Alfred might have been too young to understand what exactly happened to him when he met his soulmate but he made an instant connection with the real Artie and the separation was traumatic so Alfred's created this other 'Artie' to fill the void."

"So this is my fault!" Alfred Sr said, guiltily. Wolfgang shook his head.

"While it's true that what happened at the airport may have been a catalyst," he replied. "It's not uncommon for children Alfred's age to create companions for all kinds of reasons, sometimes for no reason at all, filling some need that the child might have. He might have made up an imaginary friend any way but, as we suspect losing his soulmate is the reason why Alfred created Artie, forcing Alfred to give him up might cause more harm than good. Imaginary friends usually fall away as the child gets older and they make new, real friends. I suggest you just give it time!"

"Can time heal the loss of a soulmate?" Wolfgang sighed.

"I wished it could!"

* * *

"COME ON, ALFIE!" Arthur shouted as he ran through the park followed by …... nothing. Allistor hated taking Arthur to the park because 'Alfie' always had to come with them so to avoid any funny looks, Allistor would sometimes pretend that he was 'Alfie'.

Allistor watched his six year old brother run around, looking back at his imaginary friend and groaned in embarrassment, knowing that this was partly his fault but how was he to know that the kid with Arthur had been his soulmate but since then, Arthur's constant companion was 'Alfie', a blonde, blue-eyed kid with a sticking up lock of hair, rather like the kid from the airport. It was embarrassing when Arthur spoke to 'Alfie' in public and he wanted to tell Arthur to stop it but their parents forbade it. Arthur's therapist suggested that they should allow the 'imaginary friends' phase run its course and that forcing Arthur to stop could harm him psychologically so they just had to wait it out. Allistor hoped it would stop soon so Arthur could just be a normal kid. As normal as someone with a missing soulmate could be and Allistor felt a little guilt and fear of how his brother's life would turn out.

* * *

Two souls separated by an ocean, two souls alone, two souls in pain. It was a million to one chance that they would ever find each other again.

But there was that one chance!

 


	2. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred and Arthur meet again....

 

**_**Chapter 2 : First Impressions** _ **

 

__Twenty years later..._ _

Twenty-four year old Arthur Britannia Kirkland hated airports! Why, he did not know! Sure, they were crowded, generally full of obnoxious people with screaming or misbehaving children, you were in danger of being run over by luggage trolleys and it was depressing to see people welcome home their soulmates in a place where you met and lost your own but that could not be the reason he hated airports, could it?

Of course it could! Especially JFK!

__When Arthur was five and he was taught with other children his age in school about beating hearts and soulmates, he realised that was what the strange thumping in his chest was and when he was picked up from school, he ran up to his mother, excited._ _

 

_" Mum!" he cried. "Miss Biriant taught us about soulmates making our hearts beat, My heart's beating, isn't it!" Elizabeth sighed, resignedly. She knew that this was coming, that Arthur would learn about it all. She just wished that she could have had a little more time to prepare to tell her son that he had already found and lost his soul mate. How do you tell a five-year-old something like that?_

 

 _"_ _Where's my soulmate?" Arthur inevitably asked. "Who are they?" Elizabeth closed her eyes in sadness._

_" I'll tell you later," she replied, hoping that Arthur might lose interest or, at least, give his parents a little time to decide what they were going to tell him but they were not that lucky as Arthur ran in the house to where Scott was in his study, finishing some job-related paper work._

_" Daddy, my heart's beating," he cried. "Miss Biriant said that means I found my soulmate!" Scott looked up at Elizabeth who gestured, helplessly._

_" Who's my soulmate, Daddy?" Arthur asked. Scott took a deep breath and picked Arthur up, sitting him on his knee._

_" Arthur," he began. Oh, how does he say this? "We don't know who your soul mate is! We only know that it's a little boy called Alfred but we think he lives somewhere in America and we don't know where."_

_" He almost has the same name as my friend!" Arthur exclaimed, referring to 'Alfie' and then he frowned "But Miss Biriant says soulmates stay together forever. How can I find him to stay with him?" Scott put his arms around his son and hugged him while Elizabeth looked on with a tear in her eye._

_" I honestly don't know!" his father admitted. He did not know what else to say._

* * *

_When Arthur reached an age to truly understand what a soulmate really was and what he had lost, life became harder for him. School was particularly hard as he was either pitied or picked on by bullies, both of which he hated and he became withdrawn and reclusive from his school mates. When he was ten, how he came to meet and lose Alfred was explained to him and that was when he developed his dislike of airports. His relationship with his older brother, never particularly close, also suffered. It was a while before it got back to just the 'My big brother's a git!' stage._

_Arthur did not give up immediately on find Alfred again. Every time he met someone with the name Alfred, he would ask them if they had met and lost their soulmate but they had either not met their soulmate yet or knew who they were and then would come the pity glances and, after one glance too many, he stopped asking and gave up on ever finding his soulmate._

Arthur grimaced as he was almost knocked over by someone who rushed by in a blonde blur.

"Sorry, dude!" the blonde man shouted back, racing for the Arrivals Gate. Arthur just huffed.

_Americans!_

Arthur wished that he had not left Britain, wished he was not at this airport, wished he had not taken the job with the Hetalia Advertising Agency but he had so he should see the job through as he did not want to be known as the one who baulked at the first hurdle. Now, if he could just find the unpunctual git that they were supposed to have sent to meet him!

* * *

 __Damn!_ _ Alfred F Jones thought as he ran through the people in the airport, almost knocking some blonde guy off his feet and he shouted back an apology. __I should have been here before the plane landed. I hope this guy isn't too pissed! God, I hate airports! Especially JFK!_ _ He reached the Arrivals Gate and took out a sign that had 'Kirkland' printed on it and held it up, not noticing that it was upside down. He was just in time to greet the last of the stragglers but none of them took any notice of the sign.

 

 __Damn! I've missed him!_ _ Alfred's spirits fell. _Feliks is going to be so mad!_ Feliks Lukasiewicz was Alfred's boss and what he did know about making things look good to the public was not worth knowing but he could be such a drama queen when things did not go his way. Alfred did not fear for his job, just his sanity but Alfred had to admit that Feliks was understanding of Alfred's soulmate issue without pitying him over it as Feliks was a big believer that Fate would not give Alfred a soulmate and force him to spend his life without him. Fate was not that big a bitch although Alfred thought Fate had to be to do this to him in the first place.

Alfred was also taught about heartbeats and soul mates when he was five and stunned the teacher when he announced that his heart was already beating and, at first, his teacher, Miss Marciea had not believed him but he insisted that she check his chest and she felt his heart beat.

_" That's wonderful, Alfred!" she smiled. "Who is your soulmate?" Alfred frowned._

_" I don't know!" he replied. Miss Marciea's smile flattened a little at the thought that Alfred did not know who his soulmate was but reasoned that his parents must. The idea that this adorable little boy would be spending his life alone was just too sad!_

_" Ask your parents when they come for you," she said. "I'm sure they know!" Alfred nodded and promised to do that and when Madeline came to pick up Alfred and Matthew, Alfred greeted her with the one question she did not want to hear._

_" Mom. Who's my soulmate?" Madeline did not know why she thought she could have avoided this, Alfred was bound to ask at some point but she was just glad that Alfred had not asked in front of his father. Alfred Sr was finding it hard to deal with the guilt he felt over Alfred's soulmate and this could send him into a downward spiral._

_" Get in the car," she said. "Alfie, you can ride shotgun because I need to talk to you."_

_" Yay! Shotgun!" Alfred cried as Madeline took his booster seat from the back seat and put it in the front while Matthew climbed into his. Madeline strapped Matthew while Alfred climbed into the front and then she buckled Alfred up, got into the driver's seat and then they were off!_

_" Alfie!" Madeline began and faltered for a moment, she really did not want to be the one doing this. "The truth is …... we don't know who your soulmate is. You met each other and then you were parted. We don't know where he is or who he is exactly except it was a little boy called Artie that went to England but that's all we could find out!" Alfred frowned._

_" Like my friend!" he declared. " I have to find him! He's my soulmate! Does Dad know who he is?" Madeline's hands gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles going white!_

_" Alfie, you can't ask him that!" she insisted. "Your father was very upset about it and he doesn't know anything else about your soulmate! You'll only upset him again it you mention it! Please, Alfie! Promise me that you'll won't ask your father about your soulmate!" That worried Madeline more than anything! Alfred Sr blamed himself for the loss of Alfred's soulmate and eventually took to drinking when he dwelt on the matter. Fortunately, he was not a nasty drunk but he became severely depressed and Madeline protected the boys as much as she could but they were bound to see something. Alfred had seen his father's state sometimes, although he did not know why but he did not want to cause his Dad to be that way again so he promised not to bring his soulmate up._

* * *

_When Alfred was eleven, he heard the full story of what happened at JFK airport and why his Dad felt so bad about it. Some would think, at eleven, that Alfred would react badly to the news but Alfred had seen what the mistake had done to his father over the past eight years and he told his father to stop blaming himself, he could not have know! A rather grown-up attitude from an eleven year old who did not want to see his father punish himself any more. He had seen enough of it!_

_As he went through high school, there were people who thought Alfred's situation was a good source of ridicule but Alfred did not suffer bullies likely and they soon learnt that if they were going to dish it out, they had to learn to take it and eventually they left him alone. When his school friends began to find their soulmates, Alfred threw himself into sports to hide his pain and he took a female friend who had not yet found her soul mate to the prom but everyone knew that he would rather be there with his unknown soulmate and Alfred had to run a gauntlet of pity. Matthew did what he could to help his brother, despite being somewhat overlooked by their parents in their efforts to make life for their younger son more bearable, Matthew sometimes felt bitter about it but he reflected that he was luckier than his brother and he sometimes wondered what would have happened if he had been the one who wandered away that day!_

_Alfred still held out hope that he would one day find his lost soulmate and his heart leapt whenever he heard the name Artie or anything like it including Arthur but when he questioned the person with that name it was always the same. 'No. I haven't found my soulmate yet!' or ' My soulmate's at home, I'm sorry. I hope you find him soon!' With every negative answer, Alfred's beating heart cracked a little until he decided no more! A bright smile could mask only so much pain and he resigned himself to a life alone._

As the last person left the Arrivals Gate without even looking at Alfred, Alfred had to admit that he had probably missed the guy that was arriving from Britain to join their New York branch and he was going to get his ear chewed off by Feliks. A tap on the shoulder had him swinging round to face a man about his age with messy blonde hair, green eyes, massive eyebrows and a disgruntled expression. Alfred began feeling a slight sense of de-ja-vu, as if he knew the guy from a long time ago or someone like him but it was like looking at a photograph that had been left in the sun and the colours had been leached away until barely discernible blobs were left and you struggled to see what they were but Alfred could not remember seeing this guy before. The man had his suitcase with him and had obviously been looking for Alfred and he stared at Alfred for a moment, then looked down at the upside-down sign Alfred was carrying, took it from his hands and put it back the right way up.

Arthur had decided to collect his suitcase before looking for this man, Jones he had been told should have been waiting for him. He finally wandered back to the Arrivals Gate and saw the blonde man who had almost knocked him over, trying to see if anyone else was coming out. It could only be him! Arthur went up to the man, tapping him on the shoulder and the man turned and Arthur found himself staring into sky blue eyes. The young man was close to his age with blonde hair a little darker that his own with a weird cowlick that decided that gravity was not it's boss and Arthur was struck by strange feelings of familiarity but it was like seeing an old sepia picture of an ancestor that had faded to yellow. You might recognise features that you or some of your family possess, the shape of the eyes or the nose, the curve of the chin but the entire face, as a whole was completely unfamiliar. He came out of the mini trance he had slipped into and looked down at the sign the man was holding, forcing himself not to smirk as he saw his own name upside down. He took the sign, turned it the right way up and shoved it back into the man's hands.

"Jones?" he asked, although he was sure this was the guy sent to meet him. Jones nodded and grinned.

"That's me!" he announced. "So you must be Kirkland, right!"

"Obviously!" Arthur replied, irritated by the American's boisterousness and thinking that this just capped an already bad day. He had endured a trip of over three thousand miles on a mode of transport he despised, to arrive in the airport he hated most, only to be almost mowed down by the bloke who had been sent to meet him who had also been late. Arthur could only hope that the hotel that the Agency had arranged would be an improvement.

Alfred, not always known for reading the atmosphere, got the impression that this Kirkland guy was not in the best of moods so, as he picked up the guy's suitcase, tried to make things better by making small talk as he lead the guy to his car.

"Okay, Mr Kirkland," he smiled as friendly as possible. "So what do I call ya? I'm Alfred F, by the way!"

Arthur's hand froze on the door handle and his beating heart stalled. Alfred! Could he be the Alfred from so long ago? Should he ask? No, it was probably not him and Arthur could not take another pitying glance or worse, Alfred F Jones not shutting up about it all the way to the hotel. Besides the fact he was annoying!

"Mr Kirkland will do," he muttered and got in the car.

 __'_ Wow!' _ Alfred thought. __'_ This guy's got a serious case of up himself!' _ He got in the car and drove out of the airport car park. While on the road, he decided to try again.

 

"So _Mr_ Kirkland," he said as the traffic light in front of them turned mercifully green before they reached it so they did not have to stop. "You're from England! Which part?"

"London!" was the clipped response. Getting conversation from this guy was like getting blood from a stone.

"Really!" Alfred said, like it was the most startling revelation in the world. "What about your family? Brothers, sisters?" Arthur groaned. All he wanted was some peace and quiet Why he did have to end up with a talker? And a nosy one at that!

"Does the F in your name stand for Forward?" he groused. Alfred's eyebrows rose.

 _ _'_ Forget up himself. This guy's got a stick up his ass the size of a tree trunk!' _Alfred could not wait to drop _Mr Kirkland_ off at his hotel. Or over a cliff, which ever came first!

"Just making conversation, dude!" he replied. "You've got a real bug up your butt!" Arthur snorted.

"I've just spent over six hours on a mode of transport I hate!" he grumbled. "I absolutely despise airports and the annoying git sent to meet me was late. Forgive me if I'm not all sunshine and smiles!"

"Are you always this unfriendly?"

"Yes! Get used to it!" Alfred decided not to say anything more until they reached the hotel and was just glad that he was not the one who had to work with this pain in the ass! He was told to meet him, take him to the hotel and pick him up to bring him to the office tomorrow. Then his contact with _Mr Kirkland_ would be over and he would be someone else's problem. Alfred pulled up outside the hotel that the Agency had arranged for Arthur and they got out, Alfred pulling Arthur's suitcase out of the trunk and handing it to him.

"I'll be picking you up tomorrow," Alfred told him. "I'll take you to the Agency to meet Mr Lukasiewicz, then we don't need to see each other which I'm sure you're pleased about!"

"Delighted!" Arthur huffed. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," he said, getting back into the car. He thought he heard the Brit say _'Can't wait!'_ as Arthur turned and went into the hotel. The stuck-up Brit had soured Alfred's mood and he could not wait to get home to the pizza and beer with his name on it, sitting in his refrigerator.

* * *

Next morning saw no improvement in Arthur's mood as jet-lag kicked in and Alfred was late again. How the git managed to keep his job, Arthur had no idea but Arthur's mood showed as Jones pulled up outside Arthur's hotel.

"Get in, dude!" Alfred called to him. "We're running late!"

"And who's fault is that!" Arthur snapped, getting in. He barely had time to put his seatbelt on before Alfred shot away from the curb and mixed with the scary looking traffic. Arthur was thrown about as Alfred took corners a little faster than Arthur would have like.

"Slow down, you idiot!" he screamed as they took a corner almost on two wheels.

"Can't, dude," Alfred replied. "We'll be late!"

"I'd rather be late than dead!" One hair-raising ride later, which had Arthur wishing he was back on the plane again, they arrived outside a skyscraper with _Hetalia Advertising Agency_ in big letters on the front of it and Arthur almost fell out of the car in his haste to get away from it and it's maniac driver.

"I'm never getting into a car with you again!" he swore. "You know that peddle, the one you ignored. IT'S CALLED THE BLOODY BRAKE!"

"Chill out, dude!" Alfred said, getting out of the car. "I got us here on time!"

"We very nearly didn't get here at all!" Arthur retorted. Alfred sighed. This guy was a born complainer and he could not wait to offload him onto whoever Feliks was going to dump him with and led a still grumbling Arthur into the building. They took the elevator to the twelfth floor and, almost the moment they got off, they were greeted by a friend.

"Good morning, Alfred!" a man with brown hair and green eyes said in a European accent as they passed.

"Yo! Toris, dude!" Alfred replied. "How's it hanging, bro?"

 _Yo! Dude! How's it hanging!_ _Could Jones act any more unprofessional?_ was Arthur's thought as they made their way to an office with _Feliks Lukasiewicz_ on the door and Alfred just burst in without knocking. Arthur was appalled at the lack of manners.

"Yo! Feliks! Boss man!" Alfred cried out to the man behind the desk. Arthur could see the man was blonde, a lighter blonde that either Alfred or himself and had bright green eyes like himself but he looked a little girlish. "I brought the limey for ya!" Arthur scowled at the back of Alfred's head and waited for 'Feliks's' response.

"Righteous!" Feliks replied, enthusiastically with a Polish accent. Arthur began to see how Alfred had got away with so much for so long. "It's, like, totes, great to have you here, Arthur! Welcome to our, like, fabulous team!" Arthur was regretting this already.

"Your name is Arthur!" Alfred exclaimed, using the first serious tone since Arthur had met him and Alfred went silent, just looking at Arthur and Arthur wondered what his problem was. Alfred still reacted whenever a name remotely like Artie came up and he could not help but wonder what if ….. But Alfred was sick of disappointment and besides, Arthur was such a stuck-up grumble-butt with repressed emotions and he would probably laugh or take offence if Alfred was to ask him and Alfred was not going to set himself up to be laughed or scorned at! Also, he did not want another heart-crushing disappointment and he had long since resigned himself that he was not going to find his soulmate and it probably was not this guy any way.

"Yes," Arthur replied. "What of it?" Alfred just shook his head.

"Nothing!" he replied. "Can I call you Artie?"

"No!" was the short reply. Alfred did not know why he even asked that. Like he wanted to call this stuck-up ass by the same name as his soulmate any way but Arthur responded so sharply, Alfred almost wished he was working with Arthur so he could call him that, just to wind him up.

"Awwh, come on!" he said, tweaking the tiger's tale. "I'll let you call me Alfie!"

"DEFINITELY NOT!" that came out even more virulently. There was no way Arthur would call Alfred by his soulmate's name, no way in Hell and Arthur really hoped he was not working with this git! He would be a basket case or a murderer within a month.

That was when Feliks, who had not read a particle of the atmosphere, dropped the bombshell that had both men wanting to scramble out the door.

"Well, I hope you guys, like, hit it off," he said. "Because you're, totes, working together!"

"WHAT!"

"No way!" Alfred exclaimed. "I'm already working with Kiku!"

"Kiku's, like, requested time off," Feliks replied. "He, like, totally found his soul mate! Hercules Kapusi, the Greek guy down in the Art Department!"

"The guy with the cat on his head who falls asleep, standing against the wall?" Arthur looked at Alfred. _Huh!_

"That's him!" Feliks replied and Arthur wondered if he had wandered into a lunatic asylum instead of an advertising agency. "So, while Kiku and Hercules are off, like, getting to know each other, Arthur will be, totes, filling in for Kiku!" Arthur just stared at Alfred. Did he seriously have to put up with this loud, overgrown man-child with the self-control of a hurricane? This was going to be a nightmare! Alfred could not believe this! He was trapped with a stuck-up, sour-tongued Brit with emotional constipation, caterpillar eyebrows and a permanent scowl!

 _How am I going to work with him?_ They both thought at the same time!

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That went well....  
> BTW Biriant and Marciea are anagrams of Britain and America. And anyone who's read When Omega Meets Alpha will recognise the Hetalia Advertising Agency. This was actually written first and I was too lazy to think of another name.


	3. Good Advice and Pink Ponies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Advice is offered and ponies run rampant...

 

** _**Chapter 3 : Good Advice And Pink Ponies** _ **

Arthur was ready to bang his head off the desk he was working at with the American loud-mouth he was stuck with. It was their job to come up with ideas for advertising products or other things and, right now, they had to come up with an idea for advertising the virtues of using renewable fuels to cut down on the Green House Affect and Arthur quickly realised that Alfred had a superhero fetish as he insisted that the central character be Green Fuels Man, a superhero protecting the world from Global Warming!

"For the last time!" Arthur huffed. "It's a stupid, infantile idea! We need to send a serious message, not comic book cartooning!"

"Serious is a bummer, dude!" Alfred declared. "People will switch channels every time the advert comes on. Make it fun and people will stay and watch!"

"And not take the message seriously!" Arthur declared. "We need to make an impact, even shock people to make them face the facts!"

"And people will definitely switch channels!" Alfred replied. "Make it something fun, people will watch and they'll see it again and again and it'll stick in their heads."

"They'll see it as a joke!" Arthur said, crossing his arms across his chest. "And then they consider it unimportant!"

"At least it's an idea, Artie?" Alfred replied, just to rile Arthur up. "You haven't come up with anything yet!" Arthur fumed.

"First, it's Arthur!" he stated. "ARRRTHURRR! And second, we've just started! And I'm telling you, the superhero idea is ridiculous!"

"Whatever, ARRRTHURRR!" Alfred mocked. "I'm gonna go get some lunch! Come with if you wanna!" Arthur cringed at Alfred's speech.

"No, thank you!" he groused. "I'll enjoy the peace from your atrocious grammar!" Alfred snorted.

"Wow, your hobby must be stuffing your shirts," he said. "Smell you later!" He left, thinking that Arthur must be twenty-four, going on sixty-five because he was like a grumpy old man.

 _ _'Overgrown brat!'__ thought Arthur!

* * *

As Alfred made his way to the elevator, Toris began to walk beside him, going to lunch himself and they got on the elevator together.

"So what's the new guy like?" Toris asked as the elevator descended.

"He's so uptight," Alfred replied. "If he swallowed lumps of coal, he'd crap out diamonds! He won't even listen to my ideas!"

"The ones involving superheroes?" Toris asked. Alfred looked round in surprise.

"How'd ya know, dude?"

"Lucky guess!" Toris smiled. Alfred always tried to get the superhero idea through. Kiku's approach was to consider it and then steer Alfred into other ideas but it sounded like this Kirkland was being more confrontational about it. Perhaps he should give Kirkland some advice about handling Alfred. He did good work once you got him off the superhero idea!

"I swear, I'll go mad if I have to work with him for very long," Alfred promised, leaning back and deliberately thumping the back of his head against the elevator wall. "I won't survive until Kiku comes back!"

"I think you should give the new guy time to settle in," Toris suggested. "I mean, you met him from the plane so he was probably tired and today, he's probably jet-lagged! Give him time to get over it and, you never know, you might like him better." The elevator stopped and the doors opened with a  _ ding! _

"Whatever, dude!" Alfred replied, stepping out. "I'm off to Mac D's! See you later!" Toris waved him off and left himself to go to the small café he always frequented. He wondered if Alfred and Kirkland would ever get along!

* * *

Arthur decided to take the opportunity to look around and get to know some of the people he would be working with. He wandered down to another floor where they did photo-shoots for adverts, magazines and billboards. As he wandered down a corridor, he turned when he heard someone shout 'LOOK OUT!' to see three brown creatures, decorated with pink ribbons, running down the corridor toward him. He flattened himself against the wall as they ran by him, followed by young two men running after them.

Both were blonde, one had blue eyes with eyebrows that rivalled his and the other had violet. The violet-eyed man stopped when he reached Arthur while his companion continued his pursuit of the pink ribbon adorned creatures.

"Are you all right?" he asked, another one with a European accent while Arthur stared in the direction the creatures had taken.

"Were those  _ ponies? _ " he asked, unsure of what he had seen. The man gave an embarrassed chuckled.

"Yes," he replied. "At Mr Lukasiewicz's request! I'm Raivis Galante, by the way!" He held his hand out for Arthur to shake.

"Arthur Kirkland!" Arthur replied but looked back at the corridor that was now empty. "But  _ ponies?! _ "

"They're being used in a shoot!" Raivis explained. "Feliks has a thing for ponies. And the colour pink!" Arthur decided there and then that he _was_ in a madhouse and his boss was a lunatic.

"Oh, you're the new guy!" Raivis realised. "How are you settling in?"

"I've been paired up with a child in a twenty+ year old's body!" Arthur replied, candidly. "With a superhero obsession!"

"Oh, you're working with Alfred," Raivis replied with a tone that spoke of past experience. Arthur got the feeling that the superhero theme was one that cropped up quite often.

"So he is obsessed with superheroes!" It was a statement, not a question.

"Well," Raivis replied. "There's some justification! My friend, Toris, went to school with Alfred and Alfred was the one who always stood up to bullies, both on his own behalf and others. The way he saw it, if he had the strength to stand up to the wrong doers, he should use it. Like Spider-Man! With great power comes …."

"...Great responsibility!" Arthur replied. "But it's been a few years since he was at school!"

"Doesn't matter to Alfred!" Raivis said. "Toris said it was Alfred's way of compensating for something lacking in his life but he didn't elaborate what it was and I didn't consider it my business!" Arthur vaguely wondered what it was Alfred was lacking but did not consider it his business either.

"I'm not sure how I can work with someone like Jones," he said. "He's too chaotic!" Raivis chuckled.

"Just give him time for his excess energy to burn off," he advised. "He's a lot calmer and easier to work with after that and you'll like him when you get to know him better. He's a good friend who'll do anything for those he cares about." Arthur was spared having to give a reply when the other man walked back up to them.

"The ponies are secured in an empty office," He told Raivis.

"Good!" Raivis replied. "We can get them back to the photo studio. Arthur, this is my colleague and soulmate, Peter Oxenstierna! Peter, this is Arthur Kirkland! He just started today!" Raivis held out his hand and Arthur shook it.

"Please to meet you!" Arthur greeted. Peter nodded.

"Are you working with Alfred Jones?" he asked. "You'll like Alfred! And he's a good worker!"

Everyone seemed to be singing the praises of his new workmate and Arthur wondered if it was his jet-lag that was making him irritated with Alfred. Maybe after a good night's sleep, he could judge Alfred in a more positive light. If only he was called something other than Alfred, Arthur would need to get past that!

* * *

An hour later, Alfred returned carrying a bag and a beverage, stepping off the elevator and he encountered his boss. Feliks was fluttering around here and there, seeing how his favourite projects were getting on. He spotted Alfred and hurried to the side of one of his favourite employees.

"So, Alfred," he chirped. "How are you and Arthur, like, getting along?" Alfred shrugged.

"He's not the friendliest person I've even met," Alfred admitted. "Toris thinks he might just be jet-lagged and that's why he's so grumpy." Feliks nodded.

"Lithy's usually, totes, right about these things," he agreed. He often called Toris 'Lithy' because Toris was originally from Lithuania and, more importantly, he was Feliks's soulmate, not that Toris used that to his advantage, he was not the type. "Could be worse, though! That could actually, like, be his personality and he could have been 'Artie'! You have asked him, haven't you?" Alfred remained silent, unusual for the boisterous American.

"Haven't you?" Feliks pressed. Alfred shook his head.

"It won't be him!" he replied. "It never is and, even if there was a possibility that it was him, there hasn't been a friendly moment to ask. I'm not going to find my soulmate, Feliks! I have to face it, he's gone!"

"He has if you, like, give up trying, Alfred!" he advised. "He could be out there somewhere or he could, like, be here in this building. You should, totes, ask Arthur out for a friendly drink, talk to him and when you know him better, like, ask him!"

Alfred thought over the advice. Should he give it, at least, one more go? If he was going to do that then he had to get Arthur to the point where he would accept such a invitation and he was about to take Toris's advice and take the first step.

* * *

Arthur had managed to grab a drink and a snack from the vending machines down the corridor but found neither particularly appetising and he regretted not going to lunch with Jones. Yes, the man had irritated him from the moment they had met but Arthur had to be honest that when they first met, Arthur had been tired from his journey and, today, he was feeling the jet-lag. Perhaps, after he had a good-night's sleep, he might be able to view Jones with a more unbiased eye. But, right now, he was hungry and still tired, which was probably why he could not concentrate on his work, hence the lack of ideas. But the superhero idea was still stupid! A brown paper bag landed on his desk and a takeaway cup was put down beside it. Arthur looked up to see that Alfred had returned.

"This is a good company to work for," he said. "But the vending machine food sucks so I got ya something from this coffee shop down the block. I figured you'd want tea, being English, and there's a BLT sandwich in the bag if you like those!" Arthur was a little taken aback by the American's consideration, considering that he knew he had not been all that friendly to him.

"Thank you!" Arthur replied, taking a sip from the cup and finding it more than tolerable, especially compared to the tea coloured hot water that the vending machine served. He opened the bag to find a well made sandwich and his hunger grew at the sight of it. "That's nice of you! I'm sorry for the way I've been behaving! I'm just tired!"

"And jet-lagged," Alfred added. "Toris said ya might be. Look! Why don't we start again?" Alfred held out his hand to Arthur. "Hi, I'm Alfred F Jones!" Arthur chuckled, took Alfred's hand and shook it.

"Hello!" he replied. "I'm Arthur B Kirkland!"

"What does the B stand for?" Alfred asked and Arthur blushed.

"What does the F stand for?" he deflected. Admitting his middle name was Britannia was a little embarrassing but he and all his brothers had weird middle names due to his father wanting to name them after their places of birth and his mother wanting to use the old names. So Allistor was Caledonia, Rhys was Cymru after being born in Wales while they were on holiday in Llandudno. Patrick was born in Dublin when his father was sent there on a job so he was called Eire as was Seamus who was born on another trip to Ireland and Arthur was born in London.

Alfred laughed as Arthur bit into the sandwich, partly so he did not have to answer Alfred and partly because he was really hungry. It is funny how things taste better when you're really hungry, except out of vending machines, of course!

"Thank you for this," Arthur said, after he had swallowed his bite and indicated to the sandwich. "How much do I owe you for it?" Alfred waved that off.

"It's on me!" he replied. "Call it a 'Welcome to America!' gift. Speaking of, why don't we go for a drink tomorrow night and get to know each other properly?" Alfred would have said tonight but he thought things might go a lot smoother if Arthur had a good-night's sleep and time to get over his jet-lag. Arthur considered it. He and Jones would be working together for a while and it would be better if they could get along with each other.

"All right," he agreed.

"Cool!" Alfred exclaimed. "It's a date!" Then blushed, wondering why he said that. Arthur looked up and turned bright pink as well. "I...I...I mean it sounds like a plan!" he backtracked. Arthur nodded, not knowing what to say to that. Behind Arthur, Alfred could see Feliks, who had been watching through the office door and heard everything, give Alfred two thumbs up.

Then, suddenly there were shouts and screams and Alfred and Arthur turned to see the pink ribbon adorned ponies, who seemed to be the reincarnation of Houdini, had escaped again and had somehow got on to the elevator and made it up to their floor. Everyone scattered as the ponies trotted through the corridors except for Feliks who ran toward the ponies, squealing with delight.

Another normal day at The Hetalia Advertising Agency!

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feliks and ponies....it had to happen. As well as Alfred suggesting superheroes for Global Warming.


	4. The Tell-Tale Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred pops the question ...... no, not that one!

 

**_**Chapter 4 : The Tell-tale Heart** _ **

It took a while to get the ponies back to where they belonged, not to catch them and take them back down to the studio but to separate Feliks from them while he squealed like a fangirl but finally, to his ever-lasting sadness, the ponies were sent to the depths of the eleventh floor. As they got back to work, Alfred did not mention superheroes, deciding to wait until Arthur was feeling revitalised and in a better frame of mind before bringing that up again. There were other ideas but nothing that really popped. And then, half way through the afternoon. Arthur's jet-lag caught up with him and he fell asleep.

As Arthur slept, Alfred looked at him and wondered should he ask Arthur if he could possibly be his soulmate and he realised that he could find out if Arthur's heart was even beating right now. Arthur was deep in Dreamland and unlikely to wake so Alfred could find out if Arthur had even found his soulmate. He debated whether or not to do this and slowly he put his ear to Arthur's chest, half hoping to find that Arthur's heart was beating and half dreading it.

_Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump!_

So Arthur had found his soulmate! Arthur had not mentioned anyone in his life but that was not so surprising. After all, they had hardly know each other for two days and the first day was only for an hour, hardly enough time to swap life stories so Arthur could know who his soulmate is.

But then again, maybe not!

Alfred looked down at his sleeping colleague, wondering if this was his soulmate. He looked the right age, he had a similar name and there was that feeling of de ja vu at the airport.

Could it be him?

He was pulled out of his wondering by the sound of Feliks's voice coming down the corridor outside and he went to wake Arthur. Feliks would tolerate a lot of things but sleeping at work was not one of them. Unless you were the narcoleptic Greek from the Art Department.

"Feliks is coming!" Alfred warned, giving Arthur a shake. "Wake up!"

"Hmm...what?" Arthur muttered as he opened his eyes.

"Feliks is coming," Alfred repeated. "Don't let him find out you've been sleeping! Only Hercules can get away with that because of his sleeping disorder." Arthur rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, just before Feliks burst into their office.

"I was, like, thinking," he said. "As Arthur is, like, tired and jet-lagged, he should, totes, leave early and get some sleep. Alfred, you should, totes, take him!" Before he left, unseen by Arthur, Feliks gave Alfred a wink. Alfred turned back to Arthur who could not help grinning at Alfred. It was funny to be woken up just to be told to go and get some sleep and Alfred saw the funny side as well.

* * *

The drive back to Arthur's hotel was less frenzied and Arthur could not wait to get his head down but, as tired as he was, he was aware of Alfred casting glances at him when he thought Arthur was not looking but when Arthur looked in his direction, Alfred quickly turned away. Arthur vaguely wondered what was wrong with Alfred but he was too tired to ask about it and he was happy to see his hotel as they pulled up outside of it and Arthur got out of the car.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said to Alfred and shut the car door. Alfred looked out of the car window at him.

"Don't forget our drink tomorrow night!" he called. He really wanted to ask, if only to get it out of the way and know one way or another but he would not spring it on Arthur right now. He would ask him when Arthur was rested and relaxed.

"I won't!" Arthur promised and with a wave, went into his hotel. Alfred watched him as he disappeared. What if Arthur was his Artie? What then? How would Arthur react? Alfred was suddenly very nervous and did not know whether he hoped that Arthur was Artie or not! And there was a day and night to go!

* * *

The next day, Arthur felt much better after a decent night's sleep as he waited for Alfred to pick him up. When he arrived, it was Alfred that seemed frazzled. Planning to ask Arthur about being his missing soulmate had kept Alfred from sleeping and he looked exhausted.

"Are you feeling all right?" Arthur asked, getting into the car. Alfred nodded.

"Just tired," he replied. "I didn't sleep well last night. How are you this morning?"

"Much better," Arthur said as Alfred pulled out into the traffic. "I should be more productive today but I don't know about you! You look wiped out, are you going to be all right?"

"I'm cool!" Alfred replied and then struggled to stifle a yawn. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe we should forgo that drink so you can go home and rest," he suggested.

"Hell no!" Alfred exclaimed. It was anticipating and dreading that drink that robbed him of sleep to begin with so putting it off was not going to be helpful. Besides, he really wanted to know! Arthur was slightly taken aback by the vehemence of Alfred's response but said nothing. If he really wanted that drink …..Before long, they pulled up outside the advertising building and were taking the elevator to the twelfth floor, fortunately free of ponies, and greeted once again by Toris.

"Good morning, Alfred! Arthur!" he said.

"Hi, Toris!" Alfred replied and then a yawn escaped him.

"You looked really tired!" Toris commented.

"He didn't sleep well," Arthur replied. Alfred shrugged off.

"A good cup of coffee and I'll be set for the day!" he replied, confidently and headed for the vending machine.

"He's not going to get a good cup of anything from that!" Arthur replied, hoping the coffee was better than the tea. Toris nodded.

"What we need is a decent drinks machine," he agreed. "Maybe I can persuade Feliks to get one? What's the point of being the boss's soulmate if I don't use it to everyone's advantage once in a while?" Arthur smiled but it was tinged with sadness and Toris wondered about that but did not know how to ask.

"Alfred said you shot down his superhero idea," he said, instead. Arthur sighed.

"Maybe I was a little abrupt," he admitted. "I was tired myself yesterday but I can't help but think it trivialises the message."

"Can I give you some advice?" Toris asked and Arthur nodded. "Whenever Alfred tries to push the superhero idea, Kiku considers it until Alfred's enthusiasm begins to wane and then suggests other ideas and get Alfred interested in them. But I wonder, if carefully handled, the superhero idea might work for the renewable fuels thing? I admit Alfred has suggested superheroes before but it just doesn't work for things like advertising funeral directors!"

"Funerals!" Arthur choked. "Are you serious?" Toris chuckled.

"It made sense to Alfred at the time," he replied. "Fortunately, Kiku was able steer him in a more dignified direction. But maybe, this time, Alfred might be on to something!" Arthur was not so sure but he would give it some thought.

Alfred returned from the vending machine sipping at his coffee and, judging by his face, it was no better than the tea but he clearly needed the caffeine and then he and Arthur went into their office to work on the ad campaign.

* * *

Alfred just wanted the day over with, despite the fact that Arthur seemed to be more open to listening to his ideas but his plans for tonight claimed his attention and time seemed to drag but, finally, they finished and they were able to leave work behind. Alfred took Arthur to a bar near where he lived and Alfred ordered a beer while Arthur asked for a whiskey and they found somewhere to sit.

"So what made ya work for the mad-house?" Alfred asked Arthur, using the term everyone who worked for Hetalia Advertising used.

"I was head-hunted," Arthur replied. "I was working for an advertising company in England and some of the campaigns I put together drew attention and I was offered an attractive package to work for Hetalia Advertising so I took it!"

"How'd ya family feel about ya coming across the pond?" Arthur cringed at the English language being butchered but elected to say nothing and just mentally corrected Alfred's grammar.

"Actually," Arthur replied. "My parents were very supportive about the move. My brothers, however, were not so sure about it, especially Allistor!"

"How many brothers have ya got?" Alfred asked. "I've got one, Matthew! He's a mountain-rescuer in Canada!" Arthur smiled.

"That's great!" he replied. "I have four brothers, I'm the second youngest! Allistor's the eldest, followed by Rhys, then Patrick and my younger brother is Seamus!"

"Why'd ya brother, Allistor not want ya to take the job?" Alfred figured the brothers must be close if Allistor did not want his little brother to come across the Atlantic.

"He feels responsible for me because of something that happened when we were kids." Arthur replied. "He sees it as watching out for me, I see it as sticking his nose in. Don't think we're joined at the hip or anything like that! We can barely be in the same room without an argument erupting. He thinks I'm an irritating pain and I think he's a overbearing prat!" Arthur sipped his whiskey. Alfred wondered what Allistor felt responsible for but felt it was too early to ask about that.

"What about your parents?" he asked, instead. "Still about?"

"Yes." Arthur said. "They're retired and live in Kingston-on-Thames. Your parents?" Alfred's mood dropped.

"Mom and Dad separated!" he replied which surprised Arthur. Soulmates did not separate unless Alfred's parents were not. "My name is actually Alfred F Williams-Jones but when our parents separated, Matthew blamed Dad and dropped the Jones, he was pretty mad at Dad. I started to call myself Jones to support Dad. I wasn't any happier about the separation but he had reasons." Arthur took that to mean that Alfred's father had been the one to walk away.

"Are your parents soulmates?" he asked. Alfred nodded and Arthur looked at him in shock.

"They haven't separated because they hate each other," Alfred clarified. "Mom didn't want it to happen but Dad felt that ….. it's kind of complicated!" Alfred was clearly uncomfortable discussing it so Arthur dropped the subject. Alfred did not like to say that the family had been pulled apart by what had happened to him, that his father decided that they would be better off without him and his mother could not persuaded him otherwise! Matthew, in a rare display of temper, accused his father of giving up on them and stopped calling himself Jones and he and their mother went to Canada while Alfred had refused to give up on his father, staying in the same city and visiting him regularly in the hopes of healing the rift.

Alfred looked at Arthur and wondered, should he tell Arthur about when he was three and ask him if he was the boy at JFK airport but decided it was too soon in the evening and he would just get to know Arthur better before he touched on that subject so they talk about this and that, what hobbies the other had and so forth. Arthur loved gardening, reading and embroidery of all things. Alfred liked archaeology, horror movies (which he can't watch alone) and, of course, superheroes. After a hour of small talk, Alfred decided to broach the subject of whether or not Arthur could be his soulmate.

"Arthur," he began. "Do you ….." Alfred faltered and he could not get the words out, as much as he wanted to.

"Yes?" Arthur asked, waiting for Alfred to finish.

"Do you …..," it was no good. Alfred need some Dutch courage before he could go there. "Want another drink?" He finished, lamely. Arthur looked down at his now empty glass and nodded and Alfred went back to the bar.

* * *

A few drinks later and it became apparent that Alfred's tolerance for alcohol was much higher that Arthur's as Arthur began making random comments about not knowing if he was catholic or protestant (Alfred did not know what to make of that but deemed it as unimportant as he was not at all religious) but he became a little concerned when Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred sobbing.

"I want my Alfie!" he wept but it was muffled by Alfred's jacket that Arthur had his face pressed into and Alfred did not hear it properly. Alfred (who was rather drunk himself, just not as much as Arthur) patted Arthur awkwardly on the back and decided that if he was going to ask Arthur, he better do it now while Arthur was still in any fit state to listen and Alfred had enough alcohol in his system to not care about the consequences. He propped Arthur up in his seat but Arthur put his head down on the table with a clunk.

"Arthur, are you still alive down there?"

"Just about!" was the slurred answer.

"I have something to ask you!"

"What?"

"When I was three," Alfred began, determined to do this thing. "I met my soulmate at JFK airport. He was a blonde boy, about the same age called Artie but I was pulled away from him and I never saw him again. When I saw you at the airport, you felt familiar to me and you have the same name and you're the right age so I'm wondering, Artie..." Alfred took a deep breath.

"Are you my soulmate?"

_Snore!_

Alfred looked down at Arthur who snored again. He had fallen asleep! Finally, Alfred had worked up the courage to ask Arthur and Arthur was unconscious in a drunken stupor. Damn Arthur and his intolerance to alcohol and Alfred's head fell on to Arthur's shoulder as he realised that he was going to have to do this again and it had taken several drinks to get the courage up the first time. Great, life officially sucked! Not only would he not get his answer but he now had to deal with a drunk, unconscious colleague and he was not exactly sober himself. Arthur's hotel was some distance away and Alfred did not think he could get him there by himself and no taxi driver in his right mind was going to pick up two drunk men so Alfred decided to take Arthur to his apartment which was closer.

He stood up, swaying a little, then took Arthur's arm and put around his shoulders, picking Arthur up and swaggering out of the door into the night. People on the street avoided them as they staggered their way to Alfred's home, or dragged in Arthur's case, and it took a hour for them to reach Alfred's apartment. Alfred struggled to get the key in the lock, hampered by an unconscious Arthur and his own inebriated state, finally managing to get the door open and drag the pair of them inside. Arthur mumbled something about 'Dumbledora the explorer' that would have made no sense to Alfred, even if he was sober. He pulled Arthur into his bedroom and dropped him on to the bed.

Arthur was going to be out for quite some time and Alfred decided it would not be good for him to sleep in his clothes so he began to strip him, throwing his clothes on to a nearby chair and missing it completely so they landed on the floor. It took some time to get Arthur's clothes off and when he was down to his underwear, Alfred pulled the blankets over him as he snoozed away, dreaming some drunken dream. Alfred was exhausted himself after all that so he pulled off his own clothes, dropping them everywhere and, as it was a large bed with plenty of room for both of them, he climbed in with Arthur, settled down and went to sleep immediately.

To Alfred's booze-soaked brain, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else see an awkward morning after coming?


	5. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur's about to have an awkward morning

 

** _**Chapter 5 : The Morning After** _ **

 

_ Arthur watched another aeroplane rushed down the long road and lift into the sky. It was better than being with his brothers who picked on him constantly. All he wanted was a friend to play with who did not teased him all the time. His older brothers did not want him hanging round with them, which was fine because being with them was not fun and Seamus was too young to play with and Arthur was always lonely. _

 

_ Another plane landed on another long road and he would be on one of them soon, going home from a holiday in New York. He looked back at his brothers who had not realised that he had walked away so he would be away from their teasing for a while. _

 

_ " Hi!" came a bright voice and he turned to see a boy about his age with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, carrying something but he was blurry. Arthur could make out the colours but not the boy's features.  Then he felt a strange thudding in his chest, something he had never felt before! _

 

_ " I'm Alfred!" the boy said with a friendly tone. "What's your name?" Arthur decided that he liked Alfred. _

_ " Arthur!" Alfred gave a blurry smile. _

 

_ " Hi, Artie!" he replied. "Wanna go play?" Arthur looked back at his family, knowing that Mum and Dad would get mad if he wandered off but more time away from his teasing brothers sounded good and he felt the need to stay with Alfred so he nodded and they ran off together. _

Arthur smiled in his sleep at the happy dream, as did Alfred who had cuddled up to Arthur but his smile turned to a frown as his dream changed from happy to not so good.

_ Alfred was having a good time with his new friend, despite the funny  _ bump, bump, bump _ in his chest. Artie was blurry to him, although he could see that Artie had blonde hair and green eyes that seemed to have big things over the top of them. They played hide and seek and it was his turn to seek. Carrying his new Mickey Mouse plush that his Dad had bought from Disneyland, he ran through the chairs, looking for Artie's hiding place. Then he spotted a funny, not-real tree in a corner and looked behind it and, sure enough, there was Artie.  _

 

_ " Found you, Artie!" he crowed, grabbing Artie's hand and pulling out from behind the tree. Artie giggled and they began turning round in a circle. _

 

_ " ALFRED!" _

 

_ " OI, YER LITTLE SHIT!" Alfred turned round to see his father coming toward him and then toward the other voice which belonged to a red-haired teenager who grabbed Artie by the collar, blaming him for the trouble he had gotten him into with their parents. Alfred's father grabbed hold of Alfred's hand, pulling him away from Artie and scolding him for wandering off. Alfred desperately tried to hold on to Artie as they were pulled apart. They had to stay together, they just had to! _

 

_ They could not hold on and finally, their hands slipped free of each other! _

"ARTIE!" Alfred cried as he came awake, just as Arthur woke crying, "ALFIE!"

Arthur woke, crying out the name of the boy in his dream to find himself embraced in a pair of arms and the look on his face turned to one of horror as he looked into the eyes of his co-worker. And that's when his hangover hit! The blinding headache, the nausea and, something he had never faced before, the awkward morning after. He pulled out of Alfred's arms and began holding his head.

"No!" he wallowed in self-denial. "No, no, no! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Alfred was as shocked as Arthur to find himself cuddling the hungover Brit when usually he would cuddle the Mickey Mouse plush he got twenty years ago but then the memories of the night before came flooding back. His failed attempt to find out if Arthur was Artie and how they ended up in the same bed together. Nothing had happened but Alfred could understand why Arthur had jumped to the conclusion he had. They were in bed, in nothing but their underwear and the rest of their clothes were all over the room and, since Arthur had been unconscious when Alfred brought him home, he would have no clue of anything that happened. Arthur was now out of the bed, desperately gathering up his clothes, wanting to get out of this embarrassing situation as soon as possible and Alfred climbed out of the bed after him.

"Arthur!" he said, trying to get the panicking Brit to listen to him. "Arthur! Nothing happened! " But Arthur was too agitated to listen as he struggled into his shirt and then pulled on his pants. He was aware of Alfred talking in the background but he was too lost in his own panicked thoughts to listen.

_ Why did I drink so much? I should know by now that I can't handle it and now I've made a fool of myself in front of Alfred! How can I work with him after this? Oh, I wish my hangover would kill me! _

"Arthur, listen to me!" Alfred knelt down in front of Arthur as he put on his shoes and was tying his laces. "Nothing happened! We got drunk, I brought you here and we just went to sleep! Well, I went to sleep, you were already unconscious. That's all that happened, I promise!" Arthur looked up and saw the truth in the other man's eyes. Then he put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands,

"Did I say anything embarrassing?" he groaned.

"You said something about not knowing what religion you were," Alfred replied. "Then you started crying on my shoulder." Arthur groaned again. "Then you dumped your head on the table and fell asleep!" Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. He knew from his brothers that he had a tendency to wail about his lost soulmate when drunk.

"Was that all I said?" he asked. Alfred thought for a moment.

"You muttered something when you were crying on my shoulder but I didn't hear what it was," he replied, getting up and sitting beside Arthur. "Don't worry, you've got nothing to tell or keep from your soulmate!" Alfred decided to throw that in to see how Arthur would react and waited for his answer, expectantly. Arthur turned his face away from Alfred to find himself looking at a Mickey Mouse plush. It looked old and well-used from being hugged a lot. And it was oddly familiar.

"I lost my soulmate some time ago," he muttered. Alfred's heart sank as he reached the conclusion that Arthur had found his soulmate who had died and Arthur did not want to talk about it. He was not his Artie! He should have known better than to think that he was.

"I'm sorry!" he said, honestly. "I lost mine too!" Arthur looked back at Alfred. He wanted to ask Alfred what happened to his soulmate but if he did not want to talk about finding his soulmate and being separated from him, he had no business questioning someone about their bereavement and causing them distress so he kept his curiosity to himself.

"My condolences," Arthur said. Alfred smiled sadly.

"It was a long time ago," he replied and they sat in silence, each believing that each other's soulmate was dead.

So oblivious!

Arthur looked at the clock and panicked.

"It's eight fifteen!" he cried. They started work at nine so they had forty five minutes to get ready and get there which meant that Arthur had no time to get back to his hotel to change so Alfred lent him a suit. It was a little big, his belt held the waist in and he had to turn up the legs but he could get away with it for one day. Now he just had to get through the day with a hangover and, after a couple of painkillers he was given by Alfred, and a quick bite of breakfast he had to forced down through his nausea, they left for work.

* * *

Feliks could not wait for Alfred and Arthur to arrive because he was bursting to find out how the night before had gone and if Alfred asked Arthur and what had Arthur had said. He was almost bouncing up and down, waiting for the elevator to unload them on to the twelfth floor. When they finally arrived, having to take a circular route to work because some of the roads were being closed off for the St Patrick's Day Parade later that day, Feliks took in the fact that Arthur was wearing a suit he had seen Alfred wear before, putting two and two together and coming up with  _ Arthur spent the night at Alfred's!  _ He gave a quiet little squeal and ran up to the two men.

"Excuse me, Arthur!" he said by way of greeting and grabbing hold of Alfred. "I, like, need Alfred for a moment!" And he dragged Alfred away with Arthur looking at them for a moment before going into the office. Feliks dragged Alfred into his own office, shut the door, pushed Alfred down into a chair and trapped him there by gripping the arms and leaning over him.

"Okay!" he ordered. "Spill! I, like, want all the gory details of last night! He's wearing one of your suits! He, totes, stayed the night, didn't he? It's him! He's Artie! Come on, like, tell me what happened?" Alfred sighed.

"Feliks, it's not him!" he replied. "He's wearing one of my suits today because he got too blind drunk to get back to his hotel last night. He crashed at my place and he had no time to get back to his hotel to change! He's not Artie!" Feliks looked deflated.

"Are you sure?" he asked, hoping that Alfred had misunderstood something. Alfred nodded.

"Arthur found his soulmate and they died," he said. "Arthur told me himself!" Feliks's face fell.

"That's a shame!" he said. "It's would have been, like, a totes great story to put on my Facebook page!"

"Well, I'm sorry you can't plaster my private life over the internet!" Alfred declared, Feliks finally letting him up. "I better get to work before Arthur starts to think he's on his own today." He left, leaving behind a disappointed Feliks. It would have been destiny! Oh well!

* * *

Arthur had something to do while he was waiting for Alfred to return from whatever Feliks wanted him for. He took out his mobile phone, searched through his contacts and dialled Patrick's number.

"Hello," his brother's voice answered.

"Hello, Patrick it's Arthur!" Arthur said. "Just calling to wish you a Happy Birthday!"

"Oh hey, Bunny," Patrick replied. "Took you longer enough! It's two o'clock, you know!"

"I'm in New York, you plonker!" Arthur replied. "It's just after nine in the morning here! I would have called sooner but I was running late for work."

"Well," Patrick replied. "Me and Seamus are in Dublin. We thought we'd see St Patrick's Day in the country of our birth since it's our birthday as well!" It was a family joke that the two brothers born in Ireland shared the same birthday and it just happened to be St Patrick's Day. Great talking point at parties!

"Seamus is with you!" Arthur said. "I was going to call him next! Is he there? Put him on!"

" _Oi, Seamus_!" he heard Patrick call out. " _Bunny's on the phone! He wants to talk to you_!" Arthur heard the sound of footsteps and noises as Patrick handed the phone to his youngest brother.

"Hey, Bunny!" Seamus said.

"Hello, Seamus!" Arthur replied. "I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, Bunny," Seamus replied. "I wish you were here in person!" Arthur had a stronger relationship with his younger brother than with his elder ones. When Seamus was growing up, Arthur refused to let his older brothers pick on Seamus the way they had him and defended him from their teasing ways.

"I wish I was too," Arthur said. "If you and Patrick are in Dublin, where are Allistor and Rhys?"

"Canada!" Arthur frowned.

"Why are they in Canada?"

"Well, since Patrick and I were coming here, Rhys fancied skiing, don't ask me why," Seamus replied. "And Rhys found this sweet deal online and dragged Allistor with him!" Arthur chuckled.

"I'm just imagining our brothers on skis," he said. "Especially Allistor!" Seamus laughed along and then the office door opened and Arthur looked up as Alfred came in and sat down.

"I have to go now," Arthur said. "Unfortunately, your birthday presents will arrive at home so you'll have to wait for them. I wasn't expecting you to take off elsewhere!"

"No problem, Bunny!"

"Tell the others I'm missing them, even that stupid git, Allistor!"

"Will do, Bunny!" Seamus replied. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" The phone clicked off. Alfred was looking at Arthur.

"My brothers, Patrick and Seamus," he explained. "It's their birthday today!"

"Really!" Alfred replied. "Are they twins?"

"No," Arthur said. "Patrick's three years older than me and Seamus is just over three years younger!"

"And born on the same day!" Alfred was amused by the coincidence.

"And both born in Ireland," Arthur replied, waiting to see what Alfred made of that. Alfred's eyebrows raised.

"And born on St Patrick's Day! Lot of coincidences in your family, Artie!"

"True!" Arthur replied. "What did Feliks want?"

"Just clarification on something," he replied. "So what ideas had we got?" Arthur sat back.

"Well, I've been thinking about your superhero idea," he replied. "There might be something in it! It would especially appeal to young children and educate them about renewal fuels and other things that impact on the environment …."

"...and they plague their parents about it!" Alfred laughed. "Two prong attack! I like it!" Arthur grimaced.

"It's an education campaign Alfred," he said. "Not a war! Although it could be put in schools as well. Educate them while they're young!"

"Yeah!" Alfred agreed. "Let's do this thing!"

* * *

For the next few hours, they came up with ideas and rehashed them. They only realised it was lunch time when Alfred's stomach gave a rather large growl.

"Wanna join me for lunch, Artie?" he asked. Arthur sighed.

"My name is not ….." he gave up. "Never mind!"

"Come on!" Alfred coaxed. "My treat!" Arthur put on his jacket.

"You bought me lunch the other day," Arthur insisted. "It's my turn!" And they left to eat.

* * *

Alfred tried to watch Arthur without being seen as Arthur ate his lunch. The man had impeccable table manners, always using his napkin and the way he used his knife and fork was artwork! Alfred knew his own manners when eating were less that perfect, usually because he was eating on the run but he tried to show some manners now he was eating with a expert. He wished Arthur had been Artie but it was not to be. A shame because now he had recovered from his travel-induced fatigue, Arthur was good company. And cute! Even the eyebrows but he was not his soulmate but Alfred had made up his mind now that he was never going to find Artie but why should he be alone? He was soulmate less and Arthur's soulmate was dead so he was alone too so …..

Why not? It could work! Alfred had nothing to lose if Arthur was agreeable. Would Arthur consider it?

Arthur knew Alfred was watching him despite his attempts to hide it and he wondered what was going through the American's head. He had to admit that he thought Alfred was handsome with that blonde hair with the cute cowlick and eyes like the sky on a summer's day. Such a shame that his soulmate died so early in his life, leaving him alone. If only he could have been Alfie, his soulmate but Arthur had long since accepted that Alfie was gone forever. But Alfred was here, probably as lonely as he was, lacking a soulmate like he was. Maybe they could find some kind of happy life together.

It was worth a try!

"Artie, would you go a date with me?"

"Alfred, perhaps you'd like to join me for an evening?"

It came out together. The two looked at each other and began laughing.

"Great minds, right!" Alfred chuckled and Arthur smiled with him.

"Great minds, indeed!"

* * *

_ _ Canada ….. _ _

Allistor grumbled as he trudged through the snow, wishing he had never let Rhys talk him into this. He hated the cold and could not wait to get to their hotel. As he and Rhys approached the doors, they suddenly burst open as a long, blonde haired man, screaming 'Merde!', dove through them, knocking Allistor off his feet. The man shouted, "Désolé!" as he dove around the corner of the hotel out of sight. Rhys was just helping Allistor to his feet when two men also burst out of the doors. One was one of the tallest men the Kirkland Brothers had ever seen, with platinum blonde hair, violet eyes and, disturbingly, he was waving around a pipe with a tap on the end. The other man was also blonde with glasses and blue eyes. He looked like the academic type but right now his eyes were blazing with fury.

"Where did he go?" he demanded in an European accent. "I'll teach him to mess with my wife!" The tall man with the pipe smiled a smile as creepy as it was innocent looking.

"And my sister," he said, sounding Russian and they ran off, fortunately for their victim, in a different direction and Allistor trudged in the direction the blonde Frenchman had taken. It was a alley with waste bins and a dead end so the Frenchman had to be somewhere.

"You can come out now," he called out. "They've gone!" There was movement and a blonde head came into view.

"So what did you do?" Allistor demanded as the man came toward him. The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders.

"Just spreading the love, mon ami!" he declared. Allistor snorted.

"With someone else's wife and that Russian's sister!" he commented. "You were really asking for it. That Russian was a big bastard and not entirely stable, it looked like!" The Frenchman chuckled.

"Oui," he replied. "You would think someone who works for mountain rescue would have sanctity for human life." He stepped out of the alley and into the light and Allistor saw his blue eyes.

"No one has sanctity for the life of anyone who..." Allistor trailed off as he felt something he never thought he would ever feel. He always thought Fate was punishing for what he did to Arthur and that was why he never found his soulmate but here he was, looking into the eyes of this man and his heart was beating. This was his soulmate as the blonde, blue-eyed Frenchman put his hand over his own heart as if to check that what he was feeling was real and Allistor thought he had been forgiven. Then he realised that his soulmate was a philanderer who was marked for death by an mad Russian with a pipe and he thought,  _ 'No, I'm still being punished!' _

This holiday was off to a great start!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone feel sorry for Allistor?


	6. Family Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here comes family....

 

**_**Chapter 6 : Family Ties** _ **

It had been a few days and everyone knew that Alfred and the new British guy were dating and Feliks had mixed feelings about that! He was happy that one of his favourite employees was no longer alone but he strongly believed in Destiny and that Destiny would bring Alfred's soulmate to him and where would that leave Arthur? Feliks was determined to get to know Arthur better and be his friend so he could pick up the pieces when Destiny finally decided to spring her surprise.

It was a happy atmosphere in which Arthur and Alfred worked on the Renewable Fuels ad campaign which was coming on nicely. What seemed like a childish idea became an idea to appeal to children and involved making any parent who used any renewable fuel a superhero to their children and they were putting together ideas for the TV ad. It was going better than Arthur thought possible but they still had to sell it to the client. They were storyboarding the ad when Alfred's cell phone ran. He looked at the caller-id and his eyes widened a little and he looked at Arthur.

"All right if I take this?" he asked as Arthur hated being interrupted in mid-stream. "It's my Dad! I haven't talk to him for a while 'cause he's been out of town!" Arthur could not deny Alfred the chance to speak to his father so he nodded and Alfred pressed accept.

"Hi Dad!" he said. "How was the trip? …... What? …... yeah, sure! Shouldn't be a problem, Feliks is quite easy going about that kind of thing but, you know, anyone who brings ponies into the office! ….. Yeah! See you soon, Dad! Bye!" He ended the call.

"Dad's gonna drop by later," Alfred revealed. "He gets like this when he's been away for a while. Feels the need to see me as soon as possible! He feels guilty over my soulmate!" Arthur looked up at that.

"Was he responsible for the lost of your soulmate?" he asked, gently. Alfred nodded.

"It was an accident," he said, quietly. "But Dad's always blamed himself over it!" Arthur said nothing, although he had a lot of admiration for his new boyfriend. Some would hold resentment over the death of their soulmate, even against a parent but Alfred did not seem to want his father to suffer over the incident that he clearly did not blame his father for. A mature attitude from his childlike boyfriend. Heaven knows he had not been so forgiving of Allistor in the beginning when he found out what at happened at JFK Airport.

"When is he coming by?" he asked.

"He's coming before lunch," Alfred replied. "So we can go together!" Arthur nodded.

"I'll make other arrangements for lunch," he offered. "You and your father should have time alone!"

"No!" Alfred exclaimed. "I want you there! I'd like you two to meet! If Dad realises that I've moved on and met someone, he might stop beating himself up!" _Or could make him worse_ , was Arthur's thought, thinking that his son was settling for second-best. Not that Arthur could criticise Alfred about that. After all, was he not doing the same?

No, he was not! Alfred was not second-best! Alfie was gone! Arthur was never going to get him back and he had let go a long time ago. He could have chosen anyone since then and there had been offers but none that moved Arthur to accept. If it was just a matter of finding someone to fill the void, anyone else would have done and anyone else would have been second-best but it had taken Alfred to make Arthur even consider finding someone. Alfred was not second-best to Alfie, he was equal! Arthur realised that Alfred was waiting for a response and nodded.

"I would like to meet your father," he replied.

"Great!" Alfred smiled, leaning over and giving Arthur a quick kiss. "I know you two will love each other!"

Arthur hoped so for Alfred's sake!

* * *

_Canada..._

Allistor and Rhys had booked into their room and the Frenchman was hiding out there as the Russian and the Estonian were still hunting for him and Allistor at least wanted to get to know his soulmate before he had to bury him.

"So what's your name?" Allistor asked, sipping a whiskey. The Frenchman took Allistor's free hand and brought it to his lips.

"Francis Bonnefoy, mon chèr!" he said and kissed Allistor's knuckles. "At your service!" Allistor was tempted to punch his knuckles in Francis's face when he heard Rhys chuckle but settled for pulling his hand out of Francis's grip and wiping his hand on his pants.

"All this time you've waited for your soulmate." Rhys smirked. "And when you find him, he's the local Casanova with a death wish! I'd start planning the funeral now if I were you!"

"And may I ask the name of mon cœur __(my heart_ ) _before my imminent demise?" Allistor rolled his eyes.

"Allistor Kirkland!" Francis smiled.

"Delighted to meet you, mon amour," he replied. "Are you related to Alice Kirkland, now Bonnefoy?" Allistor and Rhys looked at each other.

"Our cousin," Rhys replied. "Married to François Bonnefoy!" Francis smiled, sadly.

"My cousin," he replied. "I had hoped sweet Alice would make my heart beat but, alas, François was the one destined for a life with the sweet rose anglaise. _(_ _ _sweet English rose__ _)_ "

"And you got my grouchy older brother instead," Rhys chuckled and Allistor gave him a sour look. Suddenly, _La Marseillaise_ began to play and Francis took out his phone, looked at who was calling and answered it.

"Bonjour, Gilbert!" he greeted. "How is Mathieu? …... Really! That's good! It's been boring without you and Antonio but exciting things have happened today so I have a surprise for you when you get here! …... I can't! I'm in hiding at the moment! …... You know, spreading the love! …..Yes. Someone did object, I'll tell you about it when I see you! Au revoir, mon ami!" He ended the call.

"One of my close friends," he explained. "We were here together! He met his soulmate and took him home to meet his brother and they're coming back tomorrow! I can't wait for Gilbert to meet you, mon chèr!"

"I can!," Allistor replied. "If he's anything like you!"

* * *

Arthur reviewed the storyboard for the TV ad and had to admit that Alfred was right. It was fun but presented a real message and he believed that Feliks would be pleased with what he and Alfred had come up with. He turned when he heard a knock at the door to their office, to see a man in the doorway and knew straight away that this was Alfred's father. He looked like an older version of Alfred which gave Arthur the impression that Alfred would age well.

"Sorry to disturb you!" the man apologised. "I'm looking for Alfred Jones! He's my son!"

"Yes, I can see the resemblance," Arthur replied, walking toward the man, holding out his hand for him to shake. "He just went for coffee! Hello, I'm Arthur Kirkland, Alfred's co-worker!" As they shook hands, Alfred Sr's mind went into overdrive as he recognised Arthur's accent and responded to his name. Arthur! British! Artie, he knew, had been British. Alfred Sr could not remember what colour the boy's eyes had been as he had not looked at him that closely, but the eyebrows were familiar and Artie had been blonde. Could it be that Alfred had found his missing soulmate? But surely Alfred would have told him if he had! Alfred Sr was overwhelmed with curiosity.

"This might seem a strange question," he said. "But …..."

"Dad!" Alfred came through the door carrying two cups, one containing coffee and the other containing tea from the new drinks machine that Toris had finally managed to persuade Feliks to get, an addition that everyone was appreciating. "You're here already! I see you've met Arthur!"

Alfred had actually arrived just as his father was about to ask if Arthur was Artie and he had to stop his Dad from straying into sensitive areas so he interrupted his father and planned to speak to him in private and he called Artie Arthur so as not to confuse the issue. He handed Arthur his tea and offered his father his coffee who declined. Arthur had raised an large eyebrow at Alfred. Since they decided to get together, Alfred had called him Artie more and more and suddenly, in front of his father, Alfred was developing an air of formality and he wondered what brought it on.

"Arthur, do you mind if I talk to my Dad in private for a moment?" Alfred asked. "Just family stuff!" Arthur nodded.

"We're nearly done here anyway," he replied. "Afterwards we can go to lunch!" Alfred gave Arthur a grin and then he pulled his Dad out of the office. When they were far enough away, he turned back to his Dad.

"Dad, I know you were about to ask about JFK Airport," he said. "Don't! He's not Artie! Arthur found his soulmate and they died. It's not him!" Alfred Sr looked disappointed.

"I just hoped that after all this time …." Alfred nodded.

"I did too," he admitted. "But it doesn't make a difference anyway! Dad, Arthur and I …... we're together!" Alfred Sr stared at his son.

"But Alfie," he said. "What if you find Artie?" Alfred shook his head.

"I'm not going to find him, Dad!" he said, adamantly. "And I've decided not to waste my life on the off-chance that I might. Artie's gone and Arthur's alone! Why shouldn't we try to make a life so we can both be happy?"

"It's my fault!" Alfred Sr was blaming himself for this. "You have to take the second choice because of me! My actions destroyed our whole family, even Matthew hates me for what I did!" Now even Alfred exploded at his father's self-pity.

"Stop it, Dad!" he fumed. "You had no idea Artie was my soulmate, how could you! Finding a soulmate at that age is rare! And Matthew doesn't hate you, he's angry because you let this eat you up so much that you walked away from the family. If you and Mom got back together, he'd speak to you again and you know Mom'll take you back. You're her soulmate and you need her as much as she needs you! And Arthur's not a second choice! If I had Artie and he died, I still could have met Arthur! This is no different and how do we know that Artie hasn't die and that's why we can't find him? We have to stop mourning the life we could have had and live the life we've got! And you could start by calling Mom and talking to her!"

"I can't put the burden of what I did on her," Alfred Sr replied, turning his head away.

"And what about the burden you put on me?" Alfred replied and Alfred Sr turned back to him. "I was the one who wandered away that day! If I'd done what I was told and stayed where I was, I never would have met Artie then and maybe I would have met him when I was older and would have recognised what the beating in my chest was. But no! I met my soulmate too soon and since then I've had to watch my Dad beat himself up, day after day, and watch my family fall apart because I was a disobedient little brat!" Tears were leaking from Alfred's eyes now and Alfred Sr wrapped his arms around his boy and held him tight.

"Ah, son," he said, comfortingly. "You were never a brat! You and Matthew were the best things to ever happen to your mother and me! You wandered away, that's what children do! Have you blamed yourself for my behaviour all this time because of that? It's ridiculous!"

"So is why you've been blaming yourself," Alfred replied, resting his head on his Dad's shoulder. "I know it's early days but I'm happy with Arthur! And I want you, Mom and Matthew to be happy too." Alfred Sr tightened the hug he gave his son.

"I'll call your Mom!" he promised. "And we'll take it from there!" Alfred smiled. He should have tried guilt tripping his Dad a long time ago!

* * *

Arthur watched Alfred and his father interact as they ate lunch. Alfred Sr had taken the fact that they were seeing each other in his stride but he looked a little sad and Arthur guessed that he wished his son's soulmate still lived so Alfred did not have to look elsewhere for happiness but he seemed happy enough that his son was moving on with his life and he was determined not to let the man down and make Alfred happy.

"Where are you from in England, Arthur?" Alfred Sr asked.

"I'm from London," Arthur replied. "I have four brothers, two were in Ireland the last time I spoke to them and the other two are on holiday in Canada right now."

"Alfred's brother is in Canada with their mother," Alfred Sr replied. "He works with Mountain Rescue."

"Alfred mentioned that," Arthur said. "Maybe my brothers will meet yours, Alfred."

"Matthews not there right now," Alfred replied. "Matthew met his soulmate a week or so ago and they went to meet his family. Some guy called Gilbert! I tried to call you but I couldn't hold of you!" Alfred Sr nodded.

"My phone got broken," he explained. "I've only just replaced it. Is he happy?"

"He sounded like he was," Alfred replied. "Although there was something about finding Gilbert drunk up a mountain!"

"Do I really want to know?"

"Probably not!"

"And your parents?" Alfred Sr asked Arthur.

"Retired! Kingston-on-Thames!" Alfred Sr smiled.

"Family is important," he commented, thinking about the one he had thrown away and he hoped he could get them back.  He looked at Alfred and mentally corrected himself.  Get the rest of them back, he had never lost Alfred.

Alfred picked up his glass and raised it.

"I propose a toast!" he announced. "To our families, to new members and to the future!" Arthur and Alfred Sr picked up their glass and they clinked them all together.

"To the future!"

* * *

_Canada, next day ….._

Francis had been given a reprieve! Eduard and his wife had left the hotel to go home and Ivan's rescue team had been called away to assist with looking for an aircraft that had gone down some miles away. Although Francis wished the reason was not people in danger, he was glad he could now walk about outside Allistor and Rhys's room without running the risk of running into Ivan and his very big pipe (No! That's not a euphemism for anything!).

He and Allistor were sitting in the bar, drinking and getting to know each other. While Allistor was still unimpressed with Francis's flirtatious nature, he was beginning to understand that Francis was not as bad as he first thought. Francis confessed that he had been broken-hearted that Alice had not been his destined soul mate and he threw himself into philandering to cover his pain.

"If you want me as your soulmate," Allistor warned. "That had better stop or you'll think Ivan is your best friend!"

"You have nothing to fear, mon chèr," Francis replied. "Now my heart beats for you, I need no one else, Chéri. Just you!"

"We'll see!"

"FRANCIS! HEY BRO-HA!" Both men turned to see an albino man with a grinning smirk stood beside a blonde man with a curl falling between his eyes which were violet. Francis waved to them to come forward.

"Welcome back, mon ami!" he greeted. "How was your brother?"

"As uptight as usual but hey!" the albino put his arm around the blonde and they came over to them. "You'll never guess. You know his soulmate! The blind one! His heart's beating, even without being able to see into Ludwig's eyes! What do you make of that!"

"It's a miracle, Gilbert!" Francis exclaimed. "How did that come about?"

"Don't know, don't care!" Gilbert declared. "Now what about this surprise you told me about?" Francis turned to Allistor and took his hand.

"This is my surprise, mon ami," he replied. "Meet _my_ soulmate! This is Allistor Kirkland!" Gil's red eyes widened.

"Well, you've been busy since we've been gone!" he commented as he turned to Allistor and held out his hand. "Guten Tag! I am the Awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt and this is my soulmate!" The blonde man came forward.

"Hello," he said, quietly in a Canadian accent. "I'm Matthew Williams!"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Alfred's brothers in the same place *wink*


	7. Fate's Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allistor and Matthew make a discovery.....

 

** _**Chapter 7 : Fate's Surprise!** _ **

  
  


The ad campaign was almost ready and both Arthur and Alfred were nervous with excitement and apprehension. There was always a chance the client would not like it and Arthur was particularly nervous as this was his first project in the States and it would look bad if he failed. Alfred was all 'Relax, dude! It's in the bag!' but under it all, he wondered if the superhero was a good idea. After all, there had to be a reason why Kiku always talked him out of it but, after the first day, Arthur gave it a chance and Alfred did not want Arthur's first US project to fail because of his idea. They went down to the Art Department to check the poster ads they were having made up and they had to admit that they looked good but would the client like them or the TV ad they had created.

"I think they look cool!" Alfred said, looking the poster over. Arthur hummed.

"They do look rather good," he admitted. "Let's hope the client thinks so!" Alfred kissed him on the forehead.

"I'm sure they will!" he said and Arthur gave him a soft smile, although, had they not been alone, Arthur would have shoved him away as Alfred had already learnt that Arthur was not a PDA person but because they were alone, he allowed it.

"We only have a few days to dot the i's and cross the T's," Arthur replied. "I just want this to go well." And Alfred pulled Arthur into his arms and hugged him tight.

"It will!"

* * *

Sat in his apartment, Alfred Sr took a deep breath and ran through his contacts list on his cell phone to find the number he was looking for. He and Madeline always made sure they had each other's number, just in case they had news to convey about the boys, financial arrangements and, in Madeline's case, if Alfred Sr ever came to his senses.

Alfred Sr was nervous about talking to his soulmate and wife. They had been apart for so long, he had no idea what to say. He had missed her quite badly but felt that, after what happened at JFK Airport, he did not deserve her or the boys. Now, after what Alfred had said to him, he wondered if all he had done was punish his family along with himself.

He looked down at his wife's number, took another deep breath and pressed dial.

* * *

In Canada, Madeline was busy, making dinner as Matthew and his soulmate, Gilbert, were coming to dinner and she wanted everything to be special for them. She wanted to make a fuss of her eldest son whom she knew had played second fiddle to Alfie because of Alfie's soulmate problems and now it was time for Mattie to come first and she wanted to make it clear that she loved him just as much as Alfie.

Her phone began ringing and she picked it up to see who was calling. And froze! Why was her husband calling her? Had something happened to Alfie? With her heart racing, she pressed answer.

"Alfred!" she said, nervously.

"Maddie!" he sounded just as nervous as she was. "How are you?" Such banal small talk and Madeline knew he was trying to build to something.

"I'm fine, Alfred," she replied. "How are you? Are you all right? I'm wondering why you're calling, nothing's wrong with Alfie, is it?"

"No, Alfie's fine!" Alfred reassured her. "He's absolutely fine! He has a boyfriend now, a Brit called Arthur!" Madeline was about to ask the obvious. "No, it's not Artie! Arthur's soulmate is dead and Alfie's decided he's not going to wait around for Artie any more!"

"But what if Artie does show up, one day?" she asked.

"Alfie's convinced that it's never going to happen," Alfred replied. "And he wants what everybody else wants, someone to share his life with!" Madeline sighed, She had wanted so much more for her youngest son.

"So what's this Arthur like?" she asked.

"He seems like a good person," Alfred replied. "A little reserved but I think he's just uncomfortable with showing his feelings in public. Alfie seems to be happy with him, though." Madeline gave a sad smile. She would rather her son found his soulmate again but if that was not possible, to find a good person to share his life with.

"So is that why you called?" she asked. "To tell me about Alfie?" Things went quiet on the other end of the phone.

"Alfred?"

"Maddie!" came the uncertain reply. "I was talking to Alfie and I …..Maddie, have I been a fool all these years?"

Madeline wondered what Alfred was talking about. A fool about what? Could he be talking about …..?

"I took the blame for what happened to Alfie," he clarified. "And I let it eat me up and pull our family apart! Alfie never blamed me, none of you blamed me but I still let it ruin everything! I've been a fool, haven't I!" Madeline could feel the tears burning the back of her eyes. At long last, her husband was coming to his senses, after all these years!

"Yes, Alfred!" she did not sugar-coat it. "You have been a fool! You hurt us when you walked away, Alfred! All of us! Me, Alfie and Mattie! You shut us out when we should have supported Alfie together as a family, you were so stupid, Alfred!" She could hear his sad sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Is it too late for us?" Tears were now falling from Madeline's eyes.

"It won't be simple!"" she replied. "It's been a long time but it's not too late! It never has been! I've always been here waiting for you, Alfred! Waiting for you to see sense! But I need to be able to trust that you're not going to run again! You need to prove that to me  _ and _ Mattie!" She heard a sob on the other end of the phone.

"I'll do whatever it takes!" he wept. "I love you so much, Madeline!" Madeline gave a sob of her own.

"I love you too, Alfred!" she replied, tears now in a steady stream, flowing down her cheeks. She was going to get her family back, she could feel it!

"I'm going to spend a few days with Alfie," he said. "And then I'm coming to Canada to see you! How will Mattie feel about that? We didn't part on the best of terms!"

"I'll tell him tonight!" she told him. "He's bringing his soulmate to dinner. I'll think he might be wary about it all but I think he wants the family back too! He was angry with you for leaving but now you're coming back, I think things will be fine eventually!"

"Maddie!" Alfred Sr sobbed. "I'm sorry!"

"I know, Alfred!" she wept. "But you're coming back now and we'll see what happens from now on! I need to go! Mattie and Gilbert will be arriving soon. I'll call you later!"

"I'll be waiting!" Alfred Sr replied. "I love you!"

"And I love you!" The call ended.

Madeline sat down at the kitchen table and tried to absorb everything that had just happened. Her husband was coming back, her eldest son had found his soulmate and her youngest now had someone in his life! She would rather it was his soulmate but she was not greedy. It was enough that the was a chance that she was finally getting her family back after all these years.

She broke down and wept with happiness!

* * *

Alfred Sr looked at the phone that he had been speaking to his wife on just a few moment before and the tears already wept were joined by others as he wept with regret at all the years wasted and then with relief that there was a chance that the Williams-Jones family would be whole once again.

It was a while before he stopped.

* * *

Gilbert set out to charm his soulmate's mother and he could see who Birdie took after. Matthew definitely had Madeline's eyes and Gilbert briefly wondered what he had of his father but Matthew never talked about his father much but he had told Gilbert about his younger brother, Alfred and how he lost his soulmate when he was three. Gil had not met Alfred yet but he really felt for the guy, knowing his soulmate was out there somewhere but not knowing where or who they were. Gilbert did not know what he would do if that had happened to him and it made him appreciate his Birdie all the more.

Madeline was a good cook and Gil enjoyed the delicious meal that she had prepared for Matthew and him and she had made Matthew's favourite for dessert which were, of course, pancakes and Matthew introduced his soulmate to the bountiful delights of maple syrup. While they dug into the fluffy bites of heaven, Madeline turned to her son.

"Mattie," she said. "Your father called today!" Mattie swallowed his bite and put his fork down, saying nothing.

"He wants a reconciliation," she continued. "He'll be coming up here in a few days to talk with me and I think he would like it if you were here as well." Gilbert looked between mother and son, reading tension in the atmosphere, a great deal of it coming from Matthew.

"It took him long enough," Matthew muttered. "What made him decided to come back now?"

"He's been talking to Alfie," Madeline replied. "I think something Alfie said to him made him see sense. By the way, Alfred has a boyfriend now called Arthur!"

"Alfie had a boyfriend with a name similar to his missing soulmate!" Matthew was a little concerned about that. "I'm guessing that this guy is blonde. Can we be sure that he's not compensating for what's missing?" They seemed to forget Gil who just sat and listened, hoping to hear what this was all about.

"Time will tell!" Madeline said, sagely. "Will you talk to your father, Mattie? I know you were angry with him when he left but things were difficult for him. He felt responsible for what happened with Alfie and his soulmate and it ate away at him."

"It was hard for all of us, Mom," Mattie replied. "I can still remember when we shared a room, how Alfie cried himself to sleep every night until he made up Artie! And you felt helpless to help him, Mom! I know you did!"

"But we didn't have to deal with the guilt of tearing Alfie away from the real Artie, Mattie!" Madeline pointed out. "It pulled your father apart from the inside until he thought we were better off without him. He was wrong but that was how he felt! Will you talk to him, Mattie? This maybe the one chance to put out family back together again!" Matthew said nothing for a moment. He remembered how, shortly after it all happened, his father used to get drunk and depressed to the point that Madeline begged to stop, worried that, one day, he would get drunk and do something stupid! He stopped but the guilt ate him up and he felt that his family were better off without him and he left. But Alfie had not left his father alone and Matthew did wonder if Alfie had accepted the job in New York to be near their father and it now occurred to Matthew that Alfie did that so he could persuade Alfred Sr to come back and try to be a family again. If so, then could Matthew undo any of that now that Alfie had succeeded. He realised that Gilbert and his mother were waiting for an answer and he nodded.

"I'll talk to him," he replied, taking his phone out of his pocket. "But I'll do it now! Before I change my mind!" He left the table, leaving his mother to keep Gilbert company.

"I take it Mattie and Alfie's Dad left because of the lost soulmate thing?" Gilbert asked and Madeline nodded.

"Alfred was the one who found Alfie after he went missing at JFK Airport," she replied. "He was with another boy and he pulled him away so we could get home. We were part the way home when we found out that Alfie's heart had started beating and we went back to the airport but the boy was gone and my husband never got over it! One day, he left and Mattie hasn't talked to him since!"

Gilbert did not know what to say! The whole family seemed to have suffered but he could not help but think that Alfred Sr had made everyone suffer unnecessarily but he did not voice that out loud. He did not know how that would be received and, as he had never been responsible for someone losing their soulmate, who was he to judge?

He did, however, wonder how the conversation was going between his soulmate and his estranged father!

* * *

Matthew scrolled through his contacts on his phone, looking for his father's number. Alfred always made sure Matthew had it, just in case but Matthew never thought he would use it. He had been angry at his father for a long time but, if he was honest, he wanted the family back together but he was not sure he trusted his father not to walk away if the going got tough again.

He found the number and his thumb hovered over it as he debated if he should call or not. He took a deep breath and pressed it.

* * *

Alfred Sr sat in front of the TV, looking at it but not really watching. After calling Madeline, his apartment seemed too lonely and quiet. The chatter from the TV did not do much for the loneliness but at least it shattered the silence.

A silence that was further shattered by the ring of his cellphone and he put the TV on mute. He picked up his phone, looked at the caller ID and could not believe what was there. Alfred always put Matthew's number into his phone whenever Matthew changed his number but Matthew had never rung him before.

He pressed answer and slowly put the phone to his ear and cautiously said, "Hello!" There was breathing on the other end but nothing was said for a moment.

"Dad!"

"Mattie!" Alfred Sr could not believe his eldest son was actually calling him after years of silence. "Mattie, it's good to hear your voice!"

"Mom said you called," Matthew said. "Said you want to reconcile! Why? After all these years, why have you decided you want the family you walked away from?" Alfred Sr winced at the disbelief in Matthew's voice and knew he deserved that. He had caused the rift so it was up to him to work to heal it.

"Alfie," he replied. "He finally made me see what I had done to everyone. I thought what I was doing was for the best but he made me see I was just made everyone suffer. It's not what I wanted and I want to put it right. With you, Alfie and your mother!"

"And how do we know you won't leave again?" Matthew said. "I remember the way Mom was the last time you walked away, I don't want to see her like that again!"

"Matthew!" his father replied. "I don't expect to just walk back into your lives and pick up where I left off, I know that's impossible! All I want is a chance to make things right again! Can you give me that chance?" Matthew sighed.

"Mom wants to," he admitted. "And I know Alfie wants the family back together but I need proof that you'll see it through this time!"

"I can only prove that by doing, Matthew," Alfred Sr replied. Matthew knew that was true.

"I'll give you that chance!" he conceded. "But I'll reserve judgement and if you walked away this time, that's it! I'll be done with you!" Alfred Sr was elated but he knew he had to make this count. He would never get another shot.

"I won't let you down, Matthew!" he said. "We'll be a family again, I promise! I'll come up in a few days and we'll talk more. I want to hear about your soulmate, Alfie told me you found him!"

"Yes, his name's Gilbert," Matthew replied. "I'm sure you'll meet him when you arrive!"

"I'll look forward to it, Mattie," his father said. "I'll see you in a few days then."

"In a few days," Matthew agreed. "Bye, Dad!"

"Bye, son!" the call ended and Alfred Sr began to weep again. His son was speaking to him again. Tomorrow, he would go and see Alfie at work and tell what had happened, he knew his youngest son would be ecstatic. He had one shot at healing the family and he would not mess it up!

* * *

_ _ Canada. Next day …. _ _

 

The two sets of soulmates met up for lunch at the hotel while Rhys went to explore the town, giving the two sets of  _ love-birds,  _ as he called them with a slightly nauseated expression, a bit of space. Allistor noticed that the Canadian, although usually quiet, was quieter than usual and he was not sure if Matthew was upset or not.

"Are you all right, Matthew?" he asked. Matthew looked at him and nodded.

"Just thinking about stuff," he replied. "My father's coming to Canada in a few days. I haven't seen or spoken to him in years!" Allistor could not imagine not speaking to his father and wondered what could have happened to separate father and son for so long but he did not feel right prying so he said nothing. Francis, however, was not so inhibited.

"Why, mon ami?" he asked. Matthew shrugged.

"Dad left us some years ago," he replied. "He let something that happened twenty years ago make him believe that we were better off without him. I haven't spoken to him since!"

"What happened, mon frère?"

"Francis!" Allistor admonished. "He might not want to talk about it!" Matthew waved his hands in denial.

"No, it's all right!" he reassured. "My younger brother found his soulmate when he was three and Dad pulled Alfie away from him before he realised. Now Alfie doesn't know who his soul mate is and Dad's blamed himself ever since!" Francis was about to give his commiserations when the sound of Allistor's fork, falling from nerveless fingers and hitting the table clattered through the air.

_ Alfie! Separated soulmates! Could it be!  _ All this went through Allistor's mind and he knew it was too much of a coincidence but he had to be sure!

"Where did this happen?" It was not a request, it was a demand and Matthew was confused by Allistor's suddenly seriously demeanour.

"JFK Airport," he replied. "We had arrived back from Disneyland and Alfie wandered off!" Allistor stood up, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"What's your brother's full name?" he asked, scrolling through his contacts.

"He goes by Alfred F Jones now," By now the entire table was staring at Allistor who press call on his phone and put it to his ear. He paced for a while as he waited for an answer.

"Come on, Bunny," he muttered. "Pick up!" Francis, Matthew and Gilbert all frowned at Allistor's behaviour, wondering who 'Bunny' was and then Allistor's stopped pacing when he got an answer.

"Hello, Al! What do you want, you git?"

* * *

Alfred Sr stepped off the elevator on to the twelve floor where he met Alfie's boss, Feliks as he fluttered around the offices and Alfred Sr wondered just how much time the man spent in his own office. Feliks struck him as being a little weird but Alfie assured him that he was a good boss.

"Hello, Mr Jones," Feliks greeted. "Are you, like, looking for Alfred?"

"Yes," Alfred Sr replied. "I have some news for him. Do you know where he is?"

"He's, like, gone to get lunch while Arthur's down in the Art Department," Feliks replied. "He'll, totes, be back soon. You can, like, wait in his office if you like!"

"Thank you!" Alfred Sr replied and made his way to the office his son shared with Arthur and went in. He could not wait for Alfred to get back so he could tell him about his phone call to his mother and the one from Matthew. He knew how happy it would make Alfie.

He wandered around the office, looking at the photographs that Alfie had on his desk and smiled at the one of the entire family before things well and truly fell apart and, if he had his way, there would be more photographs of that nature.

Then he wandered around to Arthur's desk, seeing photo frames there. He knew he was being nosy but he wanted to find out more about this person in his son's life and the first pictures he saw were of Arthur with various people, including one that looked familiar. A red-headed man with similar eyes and eyebrows and Alfred Sr racked his brain as to where he had seen him before. Then his eyes fell on the last photograph.

It was an old picture in which Arthur was a child, about four, surrounded by three older boy boys with the oldest holding a baby about a year old and, as Alfred Sr looked at the photograph, he went pale because even if he had not recognised the four year old, he recognised the oldest one. But Alfred had said Arthur's soulmate was dead but the proof was right in front of Alfred Sr's eyes. He have to find Alfie now, it was too important to wait! As he dove out of the office, he almost collided with Feliks and Toris as they were coming down the corridor.

"Mr Jones!" Toris exclaimed. "I didn't know you were here!"

"Toris, I have to find Alfred!" Alfred Sr replied. "I found out who his soulmate is!" Toris looked stunned while Feliks was excited to hear all about it.

"Well, like, who is it!" he blurted and then there was a ding and Alfred stepped out the elevator, carrying lunch when it opened while Alfred Sr rushed over to his son and grabbed his shoulders.

"Alfie!" he said, breathlessly. "I've found your soulmate! I know who he is!" Alfred shook his head in disbelief.

"You can't have!" he replied. "And, any way, I'm with Arthur now!" Alfred Sr gave his son a little shake.

"Alfie!" he said. "Your soulmate  _ _ is _ _ Arthur!" Alfred stepped out of his father's hands.

"Now I know you're wrong!" he stated. "Arthur's soulmate is dead! He told me so himself!"

"Then why is there a photograph with the boy and the red-headed teenager from JFK Airport on his desk, Alfie?" his father asked. "I recognised them immediately, after all, how could I forget! Arthur is Artie! You've found him, Alfie! You've found him!" Alfred dropped the lunch he was carrying, looking stunned and confused.

"But Arthur said he lost his soulmate a long time ago!" he breathed.

"Were those his exact words, Alfred?" Toris asked, realising what might have happened. Alfred nodded.

"Alfred, Arthur, like, said  _ lost _ !" Feliks also realised what went wrong. "He never said  _ died _ ! He  _ lost _ his soulmate and it's you! I knew Fate would, like, bring you two back together! I'm going to, totes, have so much to put on my Facebook page today!"

"I have to find him!" Alfred said, desperately. "Where is he?"

"He's down in the Art Department!" Feliks replied and Alfred headed back toward the elevator, followed by his father, Toris and Feliks who would not missed this reunion for the world!

* * *

Arthur was looking at the final draft for the Ad poster that the Art Department had just finished making up and he was giving it a final check for mistakes that might have escaped detection but he could see no errors. A few more details and the campaign would be ready to show the client at the end of the week and Arthur hoped the client would like it. He was just giving it the once over when his phone ran and he carefully put the poster down and dug into his pocket for his phone to look at the caller Id. He wondered why Allistor was calling him from Canada and he pushed the answer button.

"Hello, Al!" he greeted. "What do you want, you git?"

"Bunny!" his brother sounded agitated or excited, it was hard to tell with him. "Just shut up and listen! I know who your soulmate is!" Arthur gave his phone a indignant glare before returning it to his ear.

"I don't appreciate the joke, Allistor!" Arthur fumed. "My soulmate's gone, there's no finding him again and I don't find this at all funny!" On the other end of the phone, Allistor lost patience with his little brother.

"Arthur Britannia Kirkland, listen to me!" While Gilbert 'Kesesese'-ed at 'Britannia', Matthew's head came up at 'Arthur'. Could the person on the other end of the phone be Alfie's lost soulmate? Allistor seemed to think so. "I'm going to pass you over to someone! Listen to him, okay?" Allistor handed his phone to Matthew.

"Tell him what you told me!" he said. "Tell him about JFK!" Matthew took the phone and put carefully against his ear and said, "Hello!"

"Hello, who is this?" said the British voice on the other end. "If my wanker of a brother put you up to this, just don't bother! It's in poor taste, like all Al's jokes!"

"I promise," Matthew reassured the man on the other end of the phone. "I'm not in on any joke! My name is Matthew Williams! My little brother met his soulmate at JFK Airport when he was three but my father took him away and he never saw him again. I was talking about it just now when, suddenly Allistor took his phone out and called you! Please, are you Artie?"

Arthur just stood there with his phone to his ear, saying nothing! This could be a joke but the voice on the other end of the phone sounded so truthful. Could he know who his soulmate is? But what about Alfred?

"Are you still there?" the voice asked when he got no reply. "Please, are you Alfie's soulmate?"

"What's your brother's name?" Arthur asked breathlessly.

"Well, the family name is actually Williams-Jones," Matthew replied. "I use Williams! My brother is Alfred F Jones!" Arthur could not help the shocked laughter that came out of his mouth. Alfred! Alfred was his soulmate! But Alfred said his soulmate was dead! No! Wait! Now Arthur thought about it, Alfred had never said anything about his soulmate being dead, he said his soulmate was lost _ ! _ Gone as in missing! Arthur had just assumed. Matthew heard the laughter on the other end of the phone and he was worried he had just given Allistor's brother some kind of breakdown.

"Are you all right?" he asked, worried, looking at Allistor with a concern expression. Allistor held out his hand and Matthew gave him back the phone.

"Oi, Bunny!" he said, loudly. "You still with us?" Arthur gave another hysterical laugh.

"Is that right?" Arthur asked with ironical mirth in his voice. "My soulmate is called Alfred F Jones?"

"Aye!" Allistor replied.

"Does he work for Hetalia Advertising?" Allistor asked Matthew who confirmed that he did.

"Yes, he does!" Allistor told Arthur who gave another burst of laughter. At least he would not have to worry about Alfred getting his heart broken now.

"Are you all right, Bunny?" Allistor was concerned now.

"Oh, I'm fine!" Arthur replied. "I'm better than fine, Al! I work with Alfred! He's my boyfriend!" There was a moment of silence on the phone and then Allistor began laughing.

"Only you, Artie!" he chuckled. "Only you! Well, why are you still nattering on the phone to me! Go get 'em, Bunny!"

"Allistor!" Arthur said. "You're not a git any more!"

"I'll always be a git, Bunny!" Allistor laughed. "Now just go!" Allistor hung up and Arthur put his phone away and practically ran for the elevator, punching the button to get back to the office where Alfred should have returned with lunch. He waited for the doors to open but it was not happening quickly enough for him so he gave up and ran for the stairs. When he was out of sight, the elevator doors opened and Alfred, his father, Toris and Feliks spilled out of it and they headed for the Art Department while Feliks fiddled with his phone camera. He wanted this epic moment recorded.

* * *

Arthur burst out of stairwell, slightly out of breath and he ran for their office, passing a brown bag and two split cups that someone had dropped but not bothered to clean up but Arthur was too focus on getting to his office, hoping Alfred had returned already. He was not losing Alfie this time, he could not! Fate would not be that cruel, would it? To his disappointment, the office was empty. Should he wait? He did not want to wait! He had finally found his soulmate and it was the one he had fallen in love with! He wanted to be with him now, he had waited long enough!

Arthur made his way to the elevator to go down to the lobby to wait for him!

* * *

"Has any one seen Arthur Kirkland?" Alfred asked a group of people, including Raivis and Peter, who were standing around the water fountain when he could not find Arthur in the department where their ad poster was being printed.

"He was here early," Raivis replied. "Checking the poster you guys designed."

I think I saw him outside the elevator earlier," Peter said. "And then he disappeared up the stairs."

"Thanks, man!" Alfred replied and turned to the others, ignoring the fact that Feliks had his phone camera in his face. "He must have gone back up to the office!" And they made their way back to the elevator and Alfred punched the call button.

* * *

Arthur sighed in frustration when the elevator stopped but not at the ground floor. Someone must have call the elevator and it stopped on the way down. Why today of all days! The doors opened and Arthur found himself looking at the one he wanted to see most. His soulmate's sky-blue eyes widened at the sight of Arthur standing in the elevator when he had expected it to be empty. They stood staring at each other for a moment, saying nothing as if they could not believe their soulmate was right in front of them at last. Arthur's lips quivered as both finally broke the silence.

“YOU'RE MY SOULMATE!” They both said it together and, despite already knowing, saying it made it real.

"Alfie!" Tears sprang into both their eyes as Alfred's million-dollar smile broke through.

"Artie!" It had a different sound to all the other times Alfred had called Arthur Artie! The last time it sounded like that, he was playing hide and seek with a four year old boy in an airport lounge. A sound reserved for his soulmate. Arthur threw himself into Alfred's arms and Alfred held him tight like he would never let him go. Tears of joy flowed down Alfred's face while Arthur sobbed, "I've found you! I've finally found you!" Alfred unwrapped his arms from around Arthur, took his face in his hands and firmly placed his lips over his.

Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred's waist and held him close as the kiss went on and on, like Alfred was trying to make up for twenty years in that single contact, unaware and uncaring that they had an audience and that the whole thing was being captured on camera phone. Alfred Sr wept with joy that his son had his soulmate back and would have what everyone else had. Toris was so happy for his friend and overjoyed that Alfred's years of loneliness were at an end. Feliks was so happy it turned out like this with no one getting their heart broken and this footage was too epic to go on to a Facebook page where only certain people could see it. No, the world should see it and so Feliks uploaded it to Youtube where he put all his other 'so epic, the whole world should see it!' stuff, under the title 'Man finds soulmate he lost at age three, turns out to be work colleague' It got so many hits in the first hour, the site almost crashed. The kiss finally ended, most due to a need to breath, and they just stared into each other's tear-filled eyes.

“How did you find out?” Alfred asked, still holding Arthur like he was afraid he would disappear again if he let go.

“My brother met yours,” Arthur replied. “He talked about what happened at JFK. Allistor put two and two together and called me. I can't believe my missing soulmate turned out to be my boyfriend after all.” Fresh tears of happiness crawled down Arthur's face.

“Me neither,” Alfred replied. “I could kick myself. I've seen those photos on your desk and never made the connection but Dad took one look and recognised you immediately.” He stroked Arthur's face, gently. “I can't believe I finally got you back.”

"I'm never letting you out of my sight again," Arthur sobbed. "Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" Alfred saluted. "I'll stay so close to you, you'll be sick of the sight of me!" Arthur gave a tearful chuckle.

"Never happen!" he promised.

* * *

Green-fuels Man used a green beam from his eyes to build a wind turbine that began to spin and a nearby house lit up with power and then he flew up to the roof of another house and aimed his fists at it. Green pulses flew from them and solar panels appeared and that house also lit up. A mini Green-fuels Man used his power to float empty plastic bottles and paper to a large bin with a recycle symbol on it and a landfill emptied. The two superheroes flew to a river and conjured up a turbine that the water flowed through and, somewhere on a dark street, the street lamps illuminated everything around them. And finally, something simple! Green-fuels Man filled a family car with bio fuel while Mini Green-fuels Man look on smiling. Then, it was just an ordinary man filling the car with his little boy who looked up at his father with a look of worship on his face! And then there was a close up of the man's face.

"Be a superhero to your children!" he said. "Use renewable fuels and save the planet!" Then he picked the boy up and flew him around like Superman while the caption 'A Message from the World Environment Agency' appeared at the bottom of the TV screen. The TV ad had been running for two weeks and already, little children were running around with capes on, pretending to build 'big whirly windmills'.

Arthur and Alfred would never know whether their client, The World Environment Agency, accepted the campaign because they liked it or whether their new-found fame had swayed them. After the mini-crisis with Youtube almost going down under the weight of so many viewing Feliks's footage, the media picked up on it, wanting interviews with ' _ The _ Soulmates' as they became dubbed. Their tale became one of the greatest love stories and there were rumours that one of the big film companies want to make a film of it. Alfred was naturally excited at the idea but Arthur was not so sure about having their lives plastered across the silver screen.

Things were going well for Alfred's parents as well. Discovering who Alfred's soulmate was had lifted Alfred Sr's sense of guilt somewhat and he went to his wife and eldest son with the great news and a much lighter heart. He and Madeline were becoming comfortable with each other again and Matthew's doubt about his father's commitment was shrinking and they were slowly pulling back together as a family and Alfred was ecstatic about it. They still had some way to go but the future was looking good.

Arthur's family all flew to New York when they heard that he had found his soulmate. They wanted to meet the man that should have been a part of their family for the past twenty years. Alice and Robert immediately hugged Alfred while Arthur's brothers commiserated with him for having Arthur as a soulmate. Allistor and Francis also came, along with Gilbert and Matthew who hugged Arthur and then Alfred.

"I'm so happy for you, Alfie!" he said. Alfred wrapped his arms around his older brother and hugged him back.

"I'm happy for you too, Mattie!" Alfred replied. "I think we'll all be happy now!"

* * *

Feliks still put the footage on his Facebook page and Kiku moaned the fact he had missed out on seeing his friend and partner reunited with his lost soulmate. It was one of the most epic moments of all time in his view and he missed it but he did not regret finding his own soulmate. Hercules wrapped his arms around Kiku from behind and hugged him tight.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. Kiku smiled.

"How we met," he replied and Hercules smiled as he remembered too.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the Ad I came up with was crappy, I'm not an advertiser so I have little expertise in that area and the YouTube thing probably wouldn't happen but Alfred and Arthur have discovered each other and all's right with the world. Well almost but that's another story, Ivan and Yao's to be precise but the next story in this series is Kiku and Hercules. I hope you look out for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Be prepared for me to play with you with this one. I'm a evil teaser.


End file.
